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:: .:td Laby Popham Mo>— i: 
Parish Church, Wellington. 



THE 



Beginnings of Colonial Maine 



1602=1658 



BY 

HENRY S. BURRAGE, D, D. 
State Historian 



To re-create any period of the past for our own minds, to understand it as 
it was, unlike what went before it, unlike what came after it — this is the 
chief aim of history; and for this purpose one must study not only the 
masses of men, but also individual men, their ideas and beliefs, their enjoy- 
ments and aspirations. 

James Bryce, University and Historical Addresses, page 362. 



Printed for the State 
1914 



FlS 



Copyrighted 1914 
By Henry S. Burrage, D. D. 



APrad 1914 



Marks Printing House 
Portland, Me. 



©CI.A371636 
/ 



To the Memory of 

William Gammell, hh. D. 

Professor of History and Political Economy 

In Brown University 1850-1864 

This Volume Is Gratefully Dedicated 

By One of His Students 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter. 

I. Early English Voyages to the American 
Coast 

II. GOSNOLD AND PRING 

III. The De Monts Colony 

IV. Waymouth's Voyage of 1605 
V. Hanham and Pring 

VI. The Popham Colony . 
VII. The French Colony at Mount Desert 
VIII. Voyages by Captain John Smith and Others 
IX. The Fight for Free Fishing 
X. Various Schemes and L,evett's Explora 

tions .... 

XI. Beginnings Here and Reawakenings in 
England .... 

XII. Numerous Grants for Settlements 

XIII. Some Settlement Clashings . 

XIV. Added Settlements and General Condi 

tions .... 

XV. The French at Castine 
XVI. Gorges Receives a Royal Charter 
XVII. Some Unrelated Matters 
XVIII. Agamenticus Becomes Gorgeana 
XIX. Cleeve Secures an Ally in Colonel Rigby 
XX. Robert Jordan as Winter's Successor 
XXI. Massachusetts Claims Maine Territory 
XXII. The Jurisdiction of Massachusetts Ac 

cepted .... 

XXIII. Review of the Period . 



Page. 

1 
17 

29 
37 
52 
63 

100 
118 
144 

160 

176 
197 
221 

241 
264 
281 
300 
313 
325 
342 
356 

370 
383 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Popham Memorial, Parish Church, Wellington Frontispiece 

facing page 

Part of the New England Coast Line on the Simancas Map 

of 1610 ..... 

The Cabot Tower, Bristol, England 
Parish Church, Cockington 
Champlain's Map of St. Croix Island 
Champlain's Sketch of St. Croix island and buildings 
St. Croix Island from the Maine Border . 
The De Monts Colony Memorial on St. Croix Island 
Title Page of Rosier' s Relation 
Memorial of Waymouth's Voyage, 1605 . 
Pring Memorial, St. Stephen's Church, Bristol 
Plan of Fort St. George, 1607 

President George Popham to James I Dec. 13, 1607 
Site of Fort St. George (indicated by arrow) 
Memorial of Popham Colony (Fort St. George) . 
St. Sepulchre Church, London, in which Captain John 

Smith Was Buried .... 
Sutton's Pool and Old Part of Plymouth. In the Fore 

ground the Pier from Which the Mayflower Sailed 
Plymouth, England, and Its Defences in 1646 
Aldworth and Elbridge Monument in St. Peter's Church 

Bristol ..... 

The Pilgrim Grant on the Kennebec 
Affidavit of Richard Vines and Henry Josselyn 



11/ 


6,/ 


18 v 


30^ 


32^ 


34 ^ 


36^ 


42^" 


48v/ 


62^ 


76^ 


92 


99 i 


98 



122 



)S 



148^ 

166 v 

180 v 
186 I 
220 •/ 



VIII ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Sir Ferdinando Gorges to Governor William Gorges . 262 \r 

Complaint of George Cleeve, June 24, 1640. Witnessed 

by Deputy Governor Thomas Gorges and Edward 

Godfrey 292 * 

John Winter to Robert Trelawny .... 304 \/ 
Church at Long Ashton in Which Sir Ferdinando Gorges 

Was Buried . . . . . 324 ^ 

Ashton Court Near Bristol . . . 340 \S 

St. Budeaux Church Near Plymouth in Which Is the Sir 

Ferdinando Gorges Memorial . . . 356 j/ 



PREFACE. 



In the following pages an attempt is made to record the promi- 
nent facts with reference to the beginnings of colonial Maine. To 
the earlier part of these beginnings, neither Sullivan in his History 
of the District of Maine (1795), nor Williamson in his History of 
the State of Maine (1832), devoted much space. When they 
wrote, the known and accessible sources of information concern- 
ing those earlier undertakings were exceedingly scanty. Careful 
research, however, especially in the last half century, has brought 
to light valuable original materials for the history of that earlier 
period, and the discovery of these materials has greatly enlarged 
our knowledge with reference both to facts and persons. 

Among these new sources of information is a manuscript which 
was discovered in 1876 in the library of L,ambeth Palace, L,ondon, 
by the late Rev. Dr. B. F. De Costa of New York. 1 Its great value 
arises from the fact that it is the original record both of the voy- 
age of the Popham colonists in making their way to our coast, and 
of the earlier undertakings connected with the planting of the 
colony at the mouth of the Kennebec. The manuscript is entitled, 
The Relation of a Voyage unto New England, Began from the 
Lizard, the first of June 1607 ', By Captain Popham in the ship the 
Gift, 2 and Captain Gilbert in the Mary and John: Written by 

and found amongst the papers of the truly worshipful 

Sr. Ferdinando Gorges, Knt, by me William Griffith. 

But especially important, in this addition to the sources, was 
the discovery of the manuscript material now known as the Tre- 

(}) For a more extended account see page 66. 

( 2 ) In his Historie of Travaile into Virginia William Strachey gives the 
full name of the vessel, the Gift of God. 



X PREFACE. 

lawny Papers. These constitute a treasure-house of information 
with reference to business interests and other matters at Rich- 
mond's island and vicinity for quite a number of years beginning" 
with 1631. In the grant of land on Cape Elizabeth obtained in 
that year by Robert Trelawny and Moses Goodyear, merchants of 
Plymouth, England, Richmond's island was included ; and on it, 
not long after the grant was made, John Winter, as the agent of 
Trelawny and Goodyear, established a large fishing and trading 
station. Goodyear died March 26, 1637, and Robert Trelawny 
became the sole proprietor of the patent. Fortunately the corre- 
spondence between Winter and Trelawny was continued about ten 
years, and their letters, with other valuable papers, accounts, etc., 
connected with Robert Trelawny' s business affairs on this side of 
the sea were, until about the year 1872, carefully preserved at 
Ham, Robert Trelawny's residence in the vicinity of Plymouth. 
The discovery * of this manuscript material by the late John Win- 
gate Thornton, Esq., of Boston, Mass., its presentation to the 
Maine Historical Society and its arrangement and publication by 
the Hon. James P. Baxter, of Portland, in a volume of more than 
five hundred pages with many valuable notes, supply us with 
much information not only concerning life and transactions at 
Richmond's island in that early period of our colonial history, 
but also with reference to other places and events upon the coast 
of Maine. 

Mr. Baxter's own painstaking researches in England with ref- 
erence to this same period, begun about the same time, were also 
richly rewarded. The results we have in three works of very 
great interest and value. The first of these is his George Cleeve of 
Casco Bay, 1630-1667, with Collateral Documents , a volume that 
gives us an admirable portraiture of the founder of Portland, based 
upon such manuscript materials and early records as Mr. Baxter 
was able to obtain at home and abroad. The volume was pub- 

Q) An account of the discovery of these papers by Mr. Thornton, and of 
their subsequent history, will be found in a note on pages 211 and 212 of this 
volume. 



PREFACE. XI 

lished in 1885 by the Gorges Society, Portland, a first sheaf of 
Mr. Baxter's historical gleanings in widely scattered fields. It 
was followed by his Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of 
Maine in three volumes, published in 1890 by the Prince Society, 
Boston. The first volume contains a valuable biography of Gorges, 
and is in fact the only extended biography of Sir Ferdinando that 
has as yet appeared, either in this country or in England. The 
second and third volumes contain Gorges' Brief Narration, his 
Brief Answer to Certain False, Slanderous and Idle Objections made 
against Sr. Ferd. Gorges, Knight, the charter of Gorges' Province 
of Maine, his letters, his will, also genealogical notes on the 
Gorges family, etc., the two volumes comprising many hitherto 
unpublished materials found in the Public Records Office, London, 
the library of the British Museum, various other public collections 
like the Bodleian Library, Oxford, also great private collections 
including that of Sir Robert Cecil, the chief secretary of Queen 
Elizabeth and James I. Still another work by Mr. Baxter relat- 
ing to colonial beginnings in Maine, and one likewise prepared 
from original sources, is his Christopher Levett of York, the Pio- 
neer of Casco Bay. In addition to the interesting biography of 
Levett, the volume contains Levett's own narrative of A Voyage 
into New England begun in 1623 and ended in 1624. This work 
was published by the Gorges Society, Portland, in 1893. 

In his research work in England, Mr. Baxter discovered a 
manuscript volume of three hundred and twenty pages entitled 
The fewell of Artes . It is in the King's Library in London, and 
on examination was found to be the work of Captain George 
Waymouth, who commanded the Archangel in her now well- 
known voyage to the coast of Maine in 1605. Before Mr. Baxter's 
discovery of this manuscript, it was supposed that Captain Way- 
mouth was a competent English shipmaster only. But the Jewell 
of Artes disclosed the fact that he was also an accomplished engi- 
neer and draughtsman, and proficient in the art of ship and forti- 
fication building. Very generously Mr. Baxter placed this man- 
uscript in my hands for use in my preparation of Rosier' s Relation 



XII PREFACE. 

of Way-mouth? s Voyage to the Coast of Maine in 1605, published by 
the Gorges Society, Portland, in 1887. My estimate of Way- 
mouth was enlarged by this manuscript at that time, and its 
influence I have felt in my references to him in the present 
volume. 

In matters pertaining to the Popham colony, I have derived 
much assistance from the Rev. Henry O. Thayer's excellent work 
entitled The Sagadahoc Colony \ Comprisi?ig the Relation of a Voyage 
into New England {Lambeth Manuscript) , and published by the 
Gorges Society, Portland, 1892. Mr. Thayer's introduction and 
notes leave nothing to be desired, while in the appendix, covering 
one hundred pages, there is a full and satisfactory discussion of 
many points of interest with reference to the colony. Mr. Thayer's 
valuable contributions to the Collections of the Maine Historical 
Society with reference to the same period have also been found 
very helpful. 

Dr. Charles E. Banks, who has made a special study of Edward 
Godfrey's life and services in connection with the development of 
colonization efforts, first at Piscataqua and afterward at Agamen- 
ticus (later Gorgeana and York), has a biographical sketch of 
Edward Godfrey in the Collections of the Maine Historical Society 
(First Series, IX, 297-384), to which is added an appendix con- 
taining letters and various papers by Godfrey, from which I have 
derived valuable aid ; also from his extended papers on Colonel 
Alexander Rigby in the second volume of the Maine Historical 
a?id Genealogical Recorder. 

Much assistance also I have received from the Farnham Papers, 
a collection of documents pertaining to Maine history, compiled 
in two volumes by Miss Mary Frances Farnham, and published 
by the Maine Historical Society. To bring these many documents 
together in this way, making them easily accessible, was an 
achievement worthy of wide recognition and generous appreciation. 

In connection with the preparation of Rosier 's Relation of Way- 
mouth's Voyage my interest in the beginnings of colonial Maine 
was greatly quickened. Study of the original sources of informa- 



PREFACE. XIII 

tion concerning these beginnings not only revealed but empha- 
sized the importance of a restatement of our earlier history in a 
connected narrative, based upon authoritative records and docu- 
ments of various kinds critically used. In subsequent years, as 
opportunities for added research work opened from time to time, 
my interest was deepened, and especially in 1912, when I had the 
pleasure of visiting Bristol and Plymouth, England, places in 
which Gorges and Aldworth and Elbridge and Jennings and Tre- 
lawny were such prominent figures, and from which, because of 
these men, proceeded influences so closely connected with the 
beginnings of our colonial history. 

In modern forms, throughout these pages, I have made much 
use of the words of the original writings on which the narrative 
is so largely made to rest. During the first half of the seven- 
teenth century not only the great masters of the English language 
were at their best, but the people of the middle classes, including 
tradesmen and officials in the humbler places, exhibited a direct- 
ness and vigor of expression of which we do well not to lose sight. 
Also in my work I have endeavored to keep in mind contempora- 
neous events in England during the period under review. Indeed, 
events then in progress on this side of the sea cannot be rightly 
understood unless one gives attention to movements in England 
at the same time, which had as their aim better social and political 
conditions than had obtained hitherto in the mother country. 

In my visit to Bristol, England, the librarian of the Central 
Municipal Library opened to me freely the large and very valuable 
collection of books relating to the history and antiquities of the 
city. This collection, brought together in a most attractive room 
in Bristol's beautiful library building, is under the charge of Miss 
Ethel E. Sims, who not only gave to me intelligent assistance 
while I was in Bristol, but also after my departure continued her 
efforts in my behalf with such painstaking interest that at length 
she was able to furnish me with the proof that the Thomas 
Hanham who accompanied Pring to the coast of Maine in 1606 
was not the Thomas Hanham who married Penelope, daughter of 



XIV PREFACE . 

Sir John Popham, as some have supposed, but his son Thomas 
Hanham, and therefore a grandson of Sir John. 1 Mr. John 
Tremayne Lane, treasurer of Bristol, placed in my hands the 
priceless early records of the city ; and I was greatly assisted in 
my examination of them by Dr. Edward G. Cuthbert Atchley. 
At Ashton Court, by the courtesy of Lady Smyth, Mr. Lewis 
Upton Way showed to me the Gorges papers still in the possession 
of the Smyth family, to which Sir Ferdinando was related by mar- 
riage. At Plymouth the public library is one of great excellence, 
and I found it helpful. The town clerk extended to me generous 
courtesies, and Mr. A. C. Simmonds, assistant conveyancing clerk 
in the town clerk's office, was of great help to me in my examina- 
tion of the town records, especially with reference to Abraham 
Jennings, the first owner of Monhegan. In this connection, also, 
I desire to make mention of my indebtedness to the great library 
of the British Museum and to the collections of the Public Records 
Office, London, where my researches were continued and ended. 

The writing of these pages was commenced at Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, in November, 1912. Until June, 1913, I was gen- 
erously supplied with books by the Maine State Library at 
Augusta, and the library of the Maine Historical Society in Port- 
land. At the same time, the libraries in Cambridge — that of 
Harvard University and the Cambridge Public Library — opened 
wide their doors to me, as also did the great libraries in Boston, 
namely, that of the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Bos- 
ton Athenaeum, the State Library, the library of the City of 
Boston and the library of the New England Historical and Gen- 
ealogical Society. Valuable assistance also was received from the 
John Hay Library and the John Carter Brown Library of Brown 
University, Providence, R. I. In the summer of 1913, in Cam- 
den, Maine, where the work of writing was continued, and in the 
fall and winter of that year in Portland, Maine, where it was com- 
pleted and the book printed, the Maine libraries already men- 

1 See note on pages 58 and 59. 



PREFACE. XV 

tioned still rendered valuable assistance, as also did the Portland 
Public Library. 

For that part of the Simancas map of 1610 which includes the 
coast line of what is now the State of Maine, I am indebted to the 
Houghton, Mifflin Co., Boston, publishers of Alexander Brown's 
Genesis of the United States, in which the whole map is found. 
The John Carter Brown Library, Brown University, courteously 
responded to my request for a fac simile of the title-page of its 
valuable copy of Rosier 's True Relation of Way mouth's voyage to 
the coast of Maine in 1605. For the photograph of the Popham 
monument in the parish church, Wellington, Somerset, I am 
indebted to the Rev. W. W. Pulman, vicar of the parish. For 
illustrations connected with recent tercentenary celebrations, that 
in 1904 of the de Monts colony at St. Croix island, that in 1905 of 
Waymouth's discoveries on the Maine coast and that in 1907 of 
the landing of the Popham colonists at the mouth of the Kennebec, 
I am indebted to the Maine Historical Society ; also for the use 
of its copy of Johnston's map of the Pilgrim grant on the Kenne- 
bec in securing a photographic copy of the same ; and also for a 
like use of original letters and other writings from the Society's 
invaluable collection known as the Trelawny Papers. The other 
illustrations are from originals in the author's possession. 



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A Part of thb New England Coa 

See page! 




/INE ON THE SlMANCAS MAP OF 1610. 

and 47. 



CHAPTER I. 
Early English Voyages to the American Coast. 

BETWEEN the close of the fifteenth century and the first part 
of the seventeenth, events are recorded that were more 
or less clearly connected with the beginnings of colonial 
Maine. The influences that were operative in these beginnings 
were largely of English origin. Primarily, the basis of England's 
claim to territory on the American coast is to be found in John 
Cabot's discovery of the North American continent in 1497. But 
other navigators and explorers, sailing from English ports, fol- 
lowed Cabot in the sixteenth century, and all are worthy of 
mention as aiding in opening the way to English colonization on 
the Atlantic coast of that continent. 

The sources of information concerning Cabot's voyage are 
scanty. From these we learn that Cabot, a native of Genoa 1 but 
for some time a resident in Venice, made his home in Bristol, 
England, about the year 1490. Then, as now, Bristol was an 
important English seaport, and among its merchants and fisher- 
men Cabot found eager listeners to his urgent pleas for English 
participation in further discoveries upon the American coast ; and 
because of these pleas, and those of other interested parties, Henry 
VII, March 5, 1496, granted letters patent to his "well-beloved 
John Cabot, citizen of Venice, and to Lewis, Sebastian and 

Sanctus, sons of the said John upon their own proper 

costs and charges, to seek out, discover and find whatsoever 
islands, countries, regions or provinces of the heathens or infidels, 
in whatever part of the world they be, which before this time 
have been unknown to all Christians". 2 

1 The date of Cabot's birth cannot be placed later than 1451. 

2 Although the sons of John Cabot are here mentioned, there is no evi- 



2 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

Busy preparations for the expedition followed, and in May, 
1497, probably early in the month, in a small vessel 1 with eight- 
een seamen, 2 Cabot sailed from Bristol animated with high hopes 
and undaunted courage. Skirting the southern coast of Ireland, 
he turned the prow of his little bark first northward, then west- 
ward ; and after sailing seven hundred leagues he reached the 
American coast. No words have come down to us, either from 
Cabot or any of the eighteen seamen, narrating the circumstances 
under which the voyagers approached the land. We have no 
mention of any thrilling spectacle as they landed and planted the 
royal standard on the North American continent in token of Eng- 
lish possession. It is not likely that there was much delay upon 
the coast following the discovery. The purpose of the expedition 
had been accomplished, and Cabot naturally would desire to make 
the story of his achievement known in England at as early a date 
as was possible. 

The first report we have with reference to Cabot's return is 
found in a letter from Lorenzo Pasqualigo to his brothers, Alvise 

dence of any value that even one of them accompanied the first expedition. 
The career of Sebastian Cabot belongs to a later period. Harrisse says : 
"Cabot had a son named Sebastian, born in Venice, who lived in England 
not less than sixteen years, and then removed to Spain, where in 1518 
Charles V appointed him Pilot-Major. This office he held for thirty years. 
In 1526, Sebastian was authorized to take command of a Spanish expedition 
intended for 'Tharsis and Ophir', but which instead went to L,a Plata and 
proved disastrous. After his return to Seville he was invited in 1547 by the 
counsellors of Edward VI to England, and again settled in that country. 
Seven years afterward he prepared the expedition of Willoughby and Chan- 
celor and of Stephen Burroughs in search of a northeast passage to Cathay. 
He finally died in London (after 1557) at a very advanced age, in complete 
obscurity. ' ' John Cabot the Discoverer of North America and Sebastian his 
Son. A chapter of the Maritime History of England under the Tudor s, 
1496-1557. By Henry Harrisse, 1896. 

1 By writers not contemporaneous, the vessel is mentioned as the "Mat- 
thew". 

2 "Nearly all Englishmen and belonging to Bristo." Despatch of Rai- 
mondo di Soncino, Dec. 18, 1497, to the Duke of Milan. 



EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES. .5 

and Francesco, dated London, August 23, 1497. In it he says : 
"The Venetian, our countryman, who went with a ship from Bris- 
tol to search for new islands, is returned and says that seven hun- 
dred leagues from here he discovered main land {terra Jirmd) , 
the territory of the Grand Khan. He coasted for three hundred 
leagues and landed ; saw no human beings, but he has brought 
here to the King certain snares which had been set to catch game, 
and a needle for making nets ; he also found some felled trees, by 
which he judged there were inhabitants, and returned to his ship 
in alarm. He was three months on the voyage." 1 That Pas- 
qualigo's information was early, the date of his letter shows ; and 
his narrative is confirmed as to its main : points by two despatches 
sent by the Milanese ambassador 2 in London to the Duke of Milan, 
one dated August 24, 1497, and the other December 18, 1497. 3 

In one of these despatches— that of December 18th— mention is 
made of the newly discovered country and its products. "And 
they say that the land is fertile and [the climate] temperate, and 
think that the red wood (el brasilio) grows there and the silks." 4 
Of course this is the language of glowing enthusiasm, abundant 
illustrations of which are to be found in the reports of other 
discoverers of that time. An allusion to the importance of the 
fisheries on the American coast in the same report, however, indi- 
cates slight emotional restraint. "They affirm that there the sea 
is full of fish that can be taken not only with nets, but with fish- 
ing baskets, a stone being placed in the basket to sink it in the 
water. ' ' They say ' 'that they can bring so many fish that this 

1 Weare, Cabot's Discovery of North America, 139. 

2 "There resided in London at that time a most intelligent Italian, Rai- 
mondo di Soncino, envoy of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, one of 
those despots of the Renaissance who almost atoned for their treachery and 
cruelty by their thirst for knowledge and love of arts. Him Soncino kept 
informed of all matters going on at London, and specially concerning matters 
of cosmography to which the Duke was much devoted." Dr. S. E. Dawson, 
The Discovery of America by John Cabot in 1497, 59, 60. 

3 lb., 142-150. 
* lb., 149. 



4 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

kingdom will have no more business with Islanda [Iceland] , and 
that from that country there will be a very great trade in the fish 
which they call stock-fish (stoch-fissi) ' ' , x the codfish of our lan- 
guage. 

In these and other early reports concerning Cabot's voyage we 
have no positive information with reference to the landfall. It 
is, therefore, only a matter of conjecture. General agreement, 
accordingly, even on the part of those who have given to the prob- 
lem the most careful attention, is not to be expected. A cautious 
statement is that of a recent writer, who affirms that it was "some- 
where on the eastern seacoast of British North America between 
Halifax and Southern Labrador." 2 It should be said, however, 
that Harrisse, whose monumental work on John Cabot is the 
chief authority concerning the voyage of 1497, while admitting 
that in the absence of documentary evidence we must resort to 
presumption, finds himself warranted in saying that "with great 
probability" the landfall "was on some point of the northeast 
coast of Labrador". 8 From his discussion, however, it is evi- 
dent that Harrisse was wholly unacquainted with the conditions 
that Cabot would have met on reaching the American coast at that 
point. On the approach of the four hundredth anniversary of 
Cabot's voyage the most careful attention was called to these con- 
ditions by a commission of the Royal Society of Canada ; 4 and 
at present, after all that has been said, the probabilities plainly 

1 lb., 149. 

2 George Parker Winship, Cabot Bibliography with an Introductory Essay 
on the Career of the Cabots, 1900, v. XIII. 

3 Harrisse, 69. 

4 The Commission was appointed in 1895. Although the Commissioners 
in their report did not in any way commit the Royal Society of Canada, 
as a whole, to the definite acceptance of the conclusion reached, the members 
of the Commission were in agreement in holding that the preponderating 
weight of evidence was as mentioned above (Weare, 280-283). Dr. S. E. 
Dawson, a distinguished member of the Commission, in expressing his con- 
clusions, wrote : "I have had all the advantages of Mr. Harrisse's learning 
and labor; but the adventitious circumstance of having been born among the 
localities under discussion, and therefore familiar with them from boyhood, 



EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES. 5 

lead to the conclusion that the landfall was at some part of the 
island of Cape Breton. 

Cabot's discovery awakened very wide interest in England, espe- 
cially, however, in Bristol, to which port the discoverer returned, 
and also in London, whither it is believed Cabot soon proceeded 
in order to make his report in person to the King. Forthwith, 
doubtless in various quarters, a second expedition was proposed. 
The King gave to the enterprise enthusiastic support. So, too, 
did the merchant adventurers of Bristol, Plymouth and other sea- 
port towns. ^Information concerning its preparation and depar- 
ture, 1 however, is scanty. The Spanish envoy in London, writing 
to his sovereign July 25, 1498, communicates what he had heard 
concerning the expedition. It consisted, he said, of five ships, 
"victualled for a year", but was expected to return in Sep- 
tember. It left Bristol in the early Spring probably, and doubt- 
less followed the same course across the Atlantic as that taken 
by Cabot in the preceding year. One of the vessels of the fleet, 
the envoy wrote, "has returned to Ireland in great distress, 
the ship being much damaged. The Genoese has continued his 
voyage". 2 Beyond this, we have no contemporaneous informa- 
tion concerning the second expedition. It is naturally conjec- 
tured, however, that on reaching the coast, Cabot extended his 
discoveries southward before returning to England. Indeed, bas- 
ing his conclusion chiefly on the celebrated planisphere of Juan de 
la Cosa, 1500, Harrisse is of the opinion that Cabot, in this second 
voyage, sailed south of the Carolinas. If, from his first landfall, 
he made his way thus far down the coast, we may think of him as 
the earliest English voyager who sailed along the coast of Maine. 

compels me to see that Mr. Harrisse's judgment upon his materials is mis- 
led by the absence of a personal knowledge of the north-east coast of 
America." Weare, 287. 

1 It must have sailed after April 1, 1498, "as on that day Henry VII loaned 
^"30 to Thomas Bradley and Launcelot Thirkill 'going to the New He' ". 
Harrisse, 133. Weare, 154. 

2 Weare, 162. 

3 By some early writers Cabot's second voyage is confounded with the 



6 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

Cabot's discoveries upon his second voyage must have made a 
far deeper impression in England than was made by the reports 
that were scattered abroad upon the return of the first expedition. 
In proceeding down the American coast, the adventurers must 
have been attracted both by the climate and the more favorable 
appearance of the country as they advanced. They could not 
have failed to notice here and there commodious harbors, and wide 
rivers extending up into the main, awakening visions of a land of 
untold riches and plenty. These stories, extensively circulated in 
various ways, added to Cabot's fame, and his great services as a 
discoverer have found increasing recognition in the centuries that 
have followed. 1 

first. The statement that the navigator died on this second voyage is with- 
out support. The date of his death is unknown, but it must have been at a 
later period. 

1 A tower on Brandon Hill, Bristol, commemorates Cabot's discovery of 
North America. It is a square buttressed structure of the late Tudor Gothic 
style, 75 feet high to the upper balcony floor and 105 feet to the apex of 
the truncated spire, on which is placed a gilded figure representing com- 
merce, mounted on a globe, symbol of the world. It is built of red sand- 
stone, with dressings of Bath freestone, and cost ,£3,300. In panels on the 
four sides of the tower are carved the arms of Henry VII, Cabot, the City 
of Bristol and the Society of Merchant Venturers. Three bronze tablets con- 
tain the following inscriptions : 

The foundation stone of this tower 

was laid by 

the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava 

on the 24th June 1897 

and the completed tower was opened 

by the same nobleman 

on the 6th September 1898. 

This tablet is placed here by the Bristol Branch of the Peace Society in the 
earnest hope that peace and friendship may ever continue between the 
kindred peoples of this country and America. 

"Glory to God in the highest, and on 
earth peace, goodwill toward men." Iyuke 2. 14 

This tower 

was erected by public subscription in the 61st 

year of the reign of Queen Victoria 



R 




The Cabot Tower, Bristol, England. 



EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES. 7 

But if English fishermen and enterprising merchants were 
attracted to the American coast by Cabot's discoveries, as some 
it is said were, it was not for long, inasmuch as in a letter written 
by John Rut to Henry VIII, dated St. John's, Newfoundland, 
August 3, 1527, the writer says he found in that harbor "eleven 
sails of Normans and one Brittaine, and two Portugall barkes"; 
but he makes no mention of others, and declares his purpose to 
extend his voyage along the coast in the hope of meeting the only 
English vessel known by him to be in American waters. 1 

In fact, kobert Hore's expedition of 1536 had no reference to 
fishing interests on the American coast, or even to colonization. 
Hore was a IyOndon merchant "given to the study of Cosmog- 
raphy", and his chief purpose in organizing his expedition, it 
would seem, was prompted solely by a desire to discover a north- 
west passage to the East Indies, and so to open a shorter route to 
those far-away regions than that by the Cape of Good Hope. 
With his two ships and a company of one hundred and twenty, 
Hore, in his voyage to the American coast, evidently followed 
Cabot's course. From the brief account of the expedition in 
Hakluyt's Principall Navigations, it is not possible to learn how 
far Hore proceeded in his search after reaching Cape Breton. We 
only know that the story is one of ill success throughout, and 
could have had only a depressing effect upon English enterprise 
with reference to new- world interests. 2 

to commemorate the fourth centenary of • 

the discovery of the continent of 

North America 

on the 24th of June 1497 by 

John Cabot 

who sailed from this port in the 

Bristol ship "Matthew" with a Bristol crew 

under letters patent granted by King Henry VII 

to that navigator and his sons 

Lewis, Sebastian and Sanctus. 

1 Lorenzo Sabine, Report on the Principal Fisheries of the American Seas, 
1853, 36. 

2 For an account of the voyage of Robert Hore see Early English and 



8 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

France, however, for many years had sent fishing vessels to the 
banks of Newfoundland. Jaques Cartier, a native of St. Malo, 
the principal port of Brittany, had been not only active in these 
fishing enterprises on the American coast, but already had con- 
ducted thither two exploring expeditions. The hardy fishermen 
of Bristol and Plymouth could not have been unmindful of these 
evidences of French commercial alertness, and, as a result, an 
increasing number of English fishing vessels made their way to 
the Newfoundland banks. 1 

It was not long, also, before in political circles in England there 
was a growing appreciation of the value of sea fisheries to the 
nation. In 1548, the English government took into consideration 
certain abuses reported from Newfoundland, for which charges 
were brought against certain admiralty officers ; and in remedying 
these abuses Parliament enacted its first legislation with reference 
to America, relieving the fishermen of the burdens wrongfully 
imposed upon them, and making fishing at Newfoundland entirely 
free to all English inhabitants. 2 

It should be added that at this time Parliament, in order to give 
encouragement to the fisheries, imposed severe penalties upon 
persons eating flesh on fish days. 3 

Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558. Her reign was 
characterized by rapidly growing commercial prosperity, in con- 
nection with which England entered upon that period of world- 
wide trade relations that has continued to the present time. The 
fisheries of the Channel and the German Ocean were now sup- 
plemented by those on the coast of North America ; and before 

French Voyages chiefly from Hakluyt, v. Ill, of Original Narratives of Early 
American History, H. S. Burrage, 1906, 103-110. 

1 "From the time of Henry VIII, the number of English vessels on the 
cod-banks of Newfoundland steadily increased." Green, Short History of 
England, 395. 

2 Sabine, 36, 37. 

8 Sabine, 37. The narrow extent of the fishing trade of England at this 
time is indicated by the fact that it was limited to the Flemish towns and 
to the fishing grounds. 



EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES. 9 

the close of Elizabeth's reign "the seamen of Biscay found Eng- 
lish rivals in the whale fishery of the Polar seas". 1 In 1563, 
Parliament, responding to this awakened spirit of enlargement 
among English fishermen of the seaport towns, enacted "that as 
well for the maintenance of shipping, the increase of fishermen 
and marines, and the repairing of port-towns, as for the sparing 
of the fresh victuals of the realm, it shall not be lawful for any 
one to eat fleshy on Wednesdays and Saturdays, unless under the 
forfeiture of ^3 for each offence, excepting in cases of sickness 
and those of special licenses to be obtained". The occasion for 
the enactment, as expressly indicated by Parliament, was not a 
religious one, as the act had its origin in the prevalent desire to 
develop the fishing interests of the nation in all possible ways. 2 

At the same time there was an enlargement of foreign commerce 
as well as of the fisheries. William Hawkins, of Plymouth, the 
first of his countrymen to sail a ship into southern seas, made 
what he recorded as a fitting venture by engaging in the African 
slave-trade, finding a market for his cargoes in the Spanish settle- 
ments of the West Indies. 8 John Hawkins, his son, inheriting 
the adventurous spirit of his father, was in the West Indies in 1565, 
and on his return voyage, sailing up the American coast as far as 
Newfoundland— catching glimpses of that vast unknown territory 
in whose opening and exploration England was to have so great 
part — he turned the prows of his vessels homeward, bringing with 
him "great profit to the venturers of the voyage", including 
"gold, silver, pearls and other jewels, a great store". 4 

Hawkins reached England in September, 1565. Glowing 
reports of his venture furnished the theme of animated conversa- 
tion throughout the kingdom, and he had no difficulty in fitting 
out a new and larger expedition, which sailed from Plymouth, 

1 Green, 395. 

2 Sabine, 37. 

3 Not the slightest disgrace at that time seems to have attached either 
to slave-stealing or slave-selling. 

4 The narrative of the closing part of this voyage of 1565, taken from 
Hakluyt, will be found in Early English and French Voyages, 113-132. 



10 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

October 2, 1567. One of Hawkins' vessels was commanded by- 
Francis Drake, afterward Sir Francis Drake. High hopes con- 
cerning the expedition were entertained both at court and in all 
parts of the realm ; but it ended in dire disaster through Spanish 
treachery in the harbor of San Juan de Ulua, a small island on the 
Mexican coast opposite Vera Cruz. Of the survivors, some 
returned to England in the Minion, one of the vessels of the fleet. 
Some landed and marched westward into Mexico, the larger num- 
ber suffering punishment and imprisonment in the galleys. 1 
Three made their long, weary way northward to the Great L,akes ; 
and then turning eastward, as one may infer from the narrative 
printed by Hakluyt, they crossed a part of what is now the State 
of Maine, and finding a French vessel on the coast they were 
taken on board and so made their way back to England. 2 

At this time, singularly enough because of the reports of Cabot 
and Hawkins, Englishmen were giving little if any thought to 
enterprises having reference to the upbuilding of a new England 
upon these western shores. But of enterprising navigators there 
was no lack in the island kingdom. As early as 1560 or 1561, 
Martin Frobisher, a native of Yorkshire, pondering problems hav- 
ing reference to the new world, was still considering the possi- 
bility and even the probability of a shorter passage to the Indies 
along the northern American coast. Added years passed, how- 
ever, before he could enlist much interest in his proposed under- 
taking; and it was not until 1575, that, with the help of the Earl 

1 Drake was so embittered against the Spaniards on account of the treat- 
ment he and his countrymen received at San Juan de Ulua that for sev- 
eral years following his return to England he ravaged the Spanish main. 
On one of these voyages Drake crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and had his 
first view of the Pacific Ocean. For the narrative of a part of Drake's world- 
encompassing voyage, see Early English and French Voyages, 153-173. 

2 A narrative of this "troublesome voyage", written by John Hawkins, 
will be found in Early English and French Voyages, 137-148. Hawkins was 
a member of Parliament for Plymouth from 1571 to 1583. He was said to be 
the man to whom is due all the credit of preparing the royal fleet to meet 
the Armada" in 1588, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth July 25th of 
that year. 



EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES. 11 

of Warwick, he was able to enter upon this quest, having secured 
for the expedition two tiny barks of twenty or twenty-five tons. 
Sailing northward and westward, Frobisher sighted on July 28, of 
that year, the coast of Labrador ; but finding impossible barriers 
as he advanced, he at length sailed homeward, reaching London 
October 9. In the following year, however, he was able to return 
to the American coast with an expedition promising larger suc- 
cess, but which was also doomed to failure — search for gold, 
which he was now commissioned to undertake, not being better 
rewarded than search for a northwest passage. The enthusiastic 
navigator's dreams, however, were still forceful, and May 15, 
1578, with fifteen vessels, he again crossed the Atlantic, this time 
by way of Greenland, but only to find himself compelled to face 
added disappointments and the final non-realization of hopes long 
fondly cherished. 1 

As little, also, was Francis Drake at this time giving attention 
to English colonization upon the American coast. In 1567, he 
was in command of the Judith in Hawkins' "troublesome voy- 
age". Ten years later, having meanwhile devoted himself to the 
destruction of Spanish interests, he sailed from Plymouth in his 
celebrated world-encompassing voyage, receiving on his return 
the congratulations of Elizabeth, and the added honor of knight- 
hood. 2 

1 Frobisher commanded the "Triumph" at the time of the destruction of 
the Armada, and was knighted at sea by the Lord High Admiral. 

2 Drake won lasting fame in connection with the destruction of the 
Spanish Armada. Even when the Armada was in preparation, Drake, who 
was ever ready to "singe the beard of the Spanish King", entered the har- 
bor of Cadiz with a fleet he had hastily assembled and destroyed nearly a 
hundred store-ships and other vessels. In the following year, when the 
Armada at length sailed from Lisbon, Drake, a vice admiral in command of 
the English privateers, hurried out of the harbor of Plymouth, and in com- 
pany with the Queen's ships fell upon the Spanish galleons with terrific fury, 
and "the feathers of the Spaniard were plucked one by one". But a might- 
ier foe than Drake struck the final blow, as fierce storms broke upon the 
scattered remnants of the Armada and swept them from the wind-disturbed 
seas. Drake died December 27, 1595, while waging war upon Spanish inter- 
ests in the West Indies, and was buried at sea. 



12 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

In his thoughts concerning a northwest passage to the Indies, 
Frobisher had received much encouragement from Sir Humphrey- 
Gilbert, who, in 1566, wrote his Discourse of Discovery for a New 
Passage to Cataia, and presented it to Queen Klizabeth. Frobish- 
er 's ill-success, however, so far lessened Gilbert's confidence in his 
own reasonings that he now turned his new-world thoughts into 
other channels. But they still had reference to the American 
continent. He knew no reason why England's interest in that 
vast territory should be inferior to that of other nations. France 
already had secured a strong foothold on the banks of the St. 
Lawrence, and had even sought to establish colonists in Florida. 
Between Florida in the south, and settlements in the north that 
opened a way to the Great I^akes, there was a vast territory as yet 
unpossessed. To it Gilbert called the attention of the Queen, and 
asked for authority and assistance in conducting an expedition 
thitherward. She responded June 11, 1578, by bestowing upon 
him letters-patent to discover and possess lands in America, but 
there was to be no robbery "by sea or land". With a fleet of 
seven vessels Gilbert set sail in November, an untimely season of 
the year. Disaster followed disaster, and the expedition failed. 

But Gilbert's letters-patent — the first granted by the Queen for 
English colonization upon American soil — were still in force, and 
with undiminished ardor the hardy navigator commenced prepara- 
tions for an added venture. Delays in the organization of the 
expedition were encountered, and it was not until 1583 that it was 
fully equipped and ready to sail. The expedition left Plymouth 
June 11, with five vessels and two hundred and sixty men. 
Where the colony should be planted had not been determined. 
In shaping the course of the voyage, however, Gilbert selected 
the "trade way unto Newfoundland", and the fleet assembled in 
the harbor of St. John's early in August. Having landed and 
called together "the merchants and masters, both English and 
strangers", Sir Humphrey exhibited his royal commission, and 
having had delivered unto him "a rod and a turf of the same 
soil" after the English custom, he took formal possession of the 



EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES. 13 

island in the name of Queen Elizabeth. Disappointments, and then 
discouragements, rapidly followed. Sickness and death at length 
diminished the number of the colonists. Discontent was mani- 
fested among those who survived. One of the vessels returned to 
England, and one — "the chief ship freighted with great provision , 
gathered together with much travail, care, long time and diffi- 
culty" —suffered wreck, probably on some part of the island of 
Cape Breton, the loss of life— about one hundred souls — striking 
a death blow to the expedition itself. The homeward voyage that 
followed was also marked by disaster, Gilbert himself perishing in 
the founding of his little vessel in a terrific storm. But the expe- 
dition was not wholly a failure. It had called the attention of the 
English people to the vast territory beyond the sea, not only await- 
ing exploration and colonization, but offering large possibilities 
for enterprise and daring to those who were bold enough to avail 
themselves of them. 1 

Among those most deeply interested in English colonization in 
America was Sir Walter Ralegh, a half-brother of Sir Humphrey 
Gilbert. He had commanded the Falcon in the unsuccessful 
expedition of 1578, and had assisted Gilbert in his preparation for 
the larger service to which Sir Humphrey had devoted himself 
with so much heroic endeavor and self-sacrifice. Ralegh now 
took up the unfinished task, and obtained from Queen Elizabeth, 

1 The mother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert was a Champernoun, and through 
her he was related to the Gorges family. His noble spirit found fitting 
expression in his disastrous homeward voyage, just before his little bark was 
engulfed. So severe was the storm that he was urged to seek safety on a 
larger vessel, but he resolutely declined to leave the men with whom he had 
embarked, and calling through the storm he encouraged his distressed com- 
panions with the words, "Cheer up, lads! We are as near heaven at sea as 
on land!" Longfellow has recalled the incident in the words: 
He sat upon the deck, 

The Book was in his hand; 
"Do not fear! Heaven is as near, " 
He said, "by water as b}' land!" 
For the narrative of Gilbert's voyage, see Early English and French 
Voyages, 179-222. 



14 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

March 25, 1584, letters-patent to "discover, search, find out and 
view such remote, heathen and treacherous lands, countries and 
territories, not actually possessed of any Christian prince, nor 
inhabited by Christian people", the colonists "to have all the 

privilege of denizens, and persons native of England 

in such like ample manner and form, as if they were born and 
personally resident within our said realm of England, any law, 
custom or usage to the contrary notwithstanding' ' . 

Two vessels, designed for preliminary exploration, were soon in 
readiness, and left England April 27, 1584. Avoiding the north- 
ern route taken by Gilbert, those in command, Philip Amadas and 
Walter Barlowe, crossed the Atlantic by way of the Canaries. 
After reaching the islands of the West Indies, they sailed up the 
Atlantic coast, and at length entered the inlets that break the long, 
sandy barriers of North Carolina. Exploration followed. The 
Indians of the mainland were interviewed. Having taken posses- 
sion of the country in the name of the Queen, Amadas and Bar- 
lowe returned to England and made a favorable report concerning 
the newly acquired territory. A second expedition, organized by 
Ralegh and placed under the command of Ralegh's cousin, Sir 
Richard Grenville, sailed from Plymouth April 9, 1585. In 1586, 
a vessel, with supplies for the relief of the fifteen men left by 
Grenville at Roanoke Island in the preceding year, was fitted out 
by Ralegh and despatched to the American coast. Sir Richard 
Grenville shortly after, with three ships, followed. Though 
Ralegh's efforts at colonization in connection with these expedi- 
tions failed, he was ready to make added endeavors, and, in 1587, 
he fitted out a fourth expedition, including one hundred and fifty 
colonists under the command of John White, whom he appointed 
Governor, and to whom he gave a charter with important privi- 
leges, incorporating the colonists under the name of the "Gov- 
ernors and Assistants of the City of Ralegh in Virginia." The 
colonists were landed at Roanoke Island. By their request, Gov- 
ernor White returned to England in the autumn for added sup- 
plies ; but in the following spring, when he hoped to recross the 



EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES. 15 

Atlantic, all England was making heroic efforts to meet the Span- 
ish Armada. Ralegh, however, succeeded in fitting out a small 
fleet with needed supplies for the Roanoke Island colonists. But 
the vessels he had secured, and made ready for the Atlantic voy- 
age, were impressed by the government. Ralegh, however, did 
not lose heart, and by the most strenuous efforts on his part two 
small vessels, under the command of Governor White, were at 
length allowed to start for. the American coast. Yet so severely 
were they handled by Spanish cruisers soon after leaving port, 
that they were compelled to abandon the voyage. In the follow- 
ing year, Ralegh made an added attempt to send relief to the colo- 
nists and again failed. In 1590, though a "general stay" of all 
ships throughout England was ordered by the government, Gov- 
ernor White obtained for himself an opportunity to return to 
America. On reaching Roanoke Island, however, the traces he 
found of the colonists he had left there two years before told only 
a story of disaster, and he was obliged to return to England with- 
out any knowledge of their fate. Ralegh, however, still con- 
tinued to send thither yet other vessels in the endeavor to obtain 
added information ; but it was not until after the settlement of 
Jamestown that it became known, through the Indians, that most 
of the Roanoke colonists were massacred by order of Powhatan. 1 

If English colonial enterprises on the American coast had ended 
in disappointment and disaster, maritime interests meanwhile had 
prospered. The destruction of the Spanish Armada made the sea- 
port towns of England more and more a nursery of seamen. Bold 
navigators sought out new lines of trade. But especially the fish- 

1 It was at Ralegh's request that Hakluyt wrote his Particular Discourse 
concerning the great necessity and manifold commodities that are like to 
grow to this Realm of England by the Western discoveries lately attempted. 
Several manuscript copies of the "Discourse" were made by Hakluyt, but 
it was not printed until 1877, when a manuscript copy, found in England 
by the late Dr. Leonard Woods, was published by the Maine Historical 
Society as volume II of its Documentary Series. It has since been published 
in Goldsmid's Hakluyt, II, 169-358. For the narratives of Ralegh's expedi- 
tions to the North Carolina coast, see Early English and French Voyages, 
227-323. 



16 the; beginnings of colonial, mains. 

eries flourished. Fishing voyages were made to the coast of New- 
foundland, and Sir Walter Ralegh, who had sacrificed so much in 
the endeavor to plant an English colony on American soil, having 
watched the growth of the fishing interests of Bristol, Plymouth 
and other ports, voiced in Parliament, in 1593, a fact of recog- 
nized national importance, when he said that the fisheries of 
England on the American coast were the "stay and support" of 
the west counties of the kingdom. Indeed, when the century 
closed, it is estimated that there were about two hundred English 
fishing vessels around Newfoundland and in neighboring waters, 
giving employment to ten thousand men and boys. 1 But English 
fishermen did not limit themselves to these waters. Possessing 
the spirit of daring adventure that now characterized maritime 
interests throughout the nation, they were ever seeking new 
scenes of busy endeavor and larger rewards of enterprise. 

But the reports which English fishermen in American waters 
brought with them on their return voyages had reference not only 
to the employments in which they were engaged, but they also 
called attention in glowing words to the glimpses they caught of 
the new world to whose shores their voyages were made. Hak- 
luyt, in his Principall Navigations , Voiages and Discoveries of the 
English Nation, published in 1589, had made the scholars and 
statesmen of England familiar with the work of adventurers and 
explorers. 2 The returning fishermen, on the other hand, told their 
tales in seaport towns to the merchants and men in their employ, 
who were easily inspired by the fair visions of wealth and em- 
pire which these reports awakened. People in all parts of the 
country were reached in this way, and when the century closed, 
England, as never before, was beginning to be stirred with high 
hopes of extending her growing power into the new and larger 
fields to which her discoverers and navigators had opened the way. 

1 Sabine's Report, 40. 

2 Hakluyt's monumental work was reprinted in L/ondon in 1809 ; also in 
Edinburgh, in 1890, in sixteen volumes "with notes, indices and numerous 
additions", edited by Edmund Goldsmid; also in 1903-1905 by the Macmillan 
Company of New York and London, in a handsome edition in twelve vol- 
umes, with many illustrations. 



CHAPTER II. 

GoSNOIyD AND PRING. 

THUS, when the seventeenth century opened, England had 
made a beginning in the endeavor to secure a foothold 
upon the Atlantic coast of North America. Further 
endeavor in this direction, however, was preceded by an added 
effort to discover a more direct route to India than that hitherto 
followed by way of Cape Good Hope. A northwest passage 
thitherward, as already indicated, had been the dream of English 
navigators in the preceding century. Such a route, if discover- 
able, would secure to England most desirable commercial advan- 
tages ; and though the attempts already made by enterprising 
explorers had been attended by great hardships and ill success, — 
the icy barriers of the north closing as with adamant the water 
way, — the possibilities of achievement, strangely enough, were 
still alluring. 

Among others, George Way mouth, of Cockington, a small vil- 
lage now a part of Torquay, on the southwest coast of England, 
not far from Plymouth, had caught the spirit of the new era, and 
was busy with considerations having reference to such an enter- 
prise. In a communication, dated July 24, 1601, addressed to the 
"Worshipful Fellowship of the Merchants of London trading into 
the East Indies, ' ' now familiarly known as the East India Com- 
pany, he presented his views with reference to an added search 
for such a route to the distant East. His suggestions met with 
approval, and Waymouth was placed in command of an expedi- 
tion for such added exploration. The interest of Queen Elizabeth 
was enlisted in the undertaking. Bearing a commendatory letter 1 

1 This letter, written upon vellum, with an illuminated border upon a red 
ground and signed by the Queen, was found in I/ondon in the early part of 



18 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

addressed by her to the "Right High, Mighty and Invincible 
Emperor of Cathaye", Waymouth, with two vessels, sailed from 
the Thames, May 2, 1602. In this quest, however, he was no 
more successful than his predecessors. Barriers of ice, in regions 
of intolerable cold, still closed the way ; and though on his return 
to England the Fellowship cleared him of all blame in connection 
with the expedition, and it was decided that he should be placed 
in command of a second venture, the proposed voyage was not 
made, and the Fellowship abandoned all further efforts in that 
direction. 

But endeavors with reference to English colonization in the 
new world were not abandoned. Indeed, already, both in L,ondon 
and in seaport towns like Bristol and Plymouth, there were those 
who were thoughtfully pondering problems connected with 
American commercial and colonial enterprises. Spanish and 
French interests had long been permanently represented there. 
English fishermen, though not in large numbers, had verified the 
reports that reached them concerning the abundance of fish on 
the American coast ; and English merchant adventurers were 
beginning to bestir themselves because of the prospect of the 
larger fish supplies their vessels could easily obtain in American 
waters. Also, there were those who still were animated with the 
high hope that England would avail itself of rights secured by 
Cabot's discovery, and seize, before it was too late, the vast 
empire to which the American coast opened the way. 

This awakening of new interest in American concerns was in 
evidence even before Waymouth set sail on his ill-fated expedi- 
tion. Prominent among those who were busying themselves with 

the last century, in tearing away an old closet in a house in which repairs 
were in progress. January 28, 1841, Sir Henry Ellis laid the letter before the 
Society of Antiquaries in London, and the letter, with a fac-simile of the 
Queen's signature and also of the seal attached, was printed in the proceed- 
ings of the Society's meeting. The original letter unfortunately has disap- 
peared, but a reprint from the published copy will be found in Rosier's 
Relation of Waymouth' s Voyage to the Coast of Maine, 1605, printed by the 
Gorges Society, 17-20. 



GOSNOLD AND PRING. 19 

such concerns was Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. 1 At 
that time, he was in prison for supposed connection with the con- 
spiracy of Essex. 2 He seems, however, to have been thinking not 
so much of affairs in England, as of a new England across the sea. 
As a result of his efforts largely, an expedition was made ready 
having reference to the beginnings of a colonial enterprise on the 
American coast. Its command was given to Captain Bartholo- 
mew Gosnold, who is said to have seen sendee already with Sir 
Walter Ralegh in one or more expeditions to America. With 
him was associated Captain Bartholomew Gilbert, a son of Sir 
Humphrey Gilbert. Details with reference to the preparation and 
plans of the voyage are lacking. Evidently they were not elab- 
orate. A beginning, however, was to be made, and for this pur- 
pose a small vessel, named the Concord, was secured for the 
purpose, and in it Gosnold sailed from Falmouth, England, 
March 25, 1602. Thirty-two persons, eight of them mariners, 
constituted the whole company. Of this number twelve purposed 
to return to England with the vessel at the close of the intended 
exploration, and the rest were to remain in the country for 
"population". 

The English voyagers of the preceding century made their way 
to the American coast either by the islands of Newfoundland and 

1 Born October 6, 1573, he took his degree of bachelor of arts at Cam- 
bridge in 1589, he planned George Waymouth's voyage to the coast of 
Maine in 1605; in April, 1610, he aided in sending Henry Hudson to the 
Northwest; in 1614, he subscribed ^"100 toward sending Harley to the New 
England coast; Nov. 3, 1620, he became a member of the New England 
Council. He died Nov. 10, 1624. 

2 The reference is to Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex. For many 
years he was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth, and held high appointments, 
political and military; but his undertakings were not always successful. 
As Ivord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1599, he was severely criticised, and on 
his return he was deprived of his dignities. His attempt to incite an insur- 
rection in London, in the hope that as a result the Queen would be com- 
pelled to take his part in his conflict with his enemies, led to his arrest, 
imprisonment and trial for high treason. He was condemned, but Elizabeth 
delayed to sign the death warrant in the hope that he would ask for pardon. 
He did not and was beheaded Feb. 25, 1601. 



20 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

Cape Breton, or by those of the West Indies. Gosnold, avoiding 
Cabot's course and also that of the Ralegh expeditions to "Vir- 
ginia", aimed by a more direct route to reach "the north part of 
Virginia' ' . In the early days of the voyage, the wind was unfav- 
orable for his purpose, but he succeeded in reaching the American 
coast on May 14. Brereton, who was one of the company and 
wrote a narrative of the expedition, 1 has little to say concerning 
the landfall, but states the important fact that it was "in the 
latitude of forty-three degrees", accordingly at some point on the 
southern coast of Maine. Archer, who also accompanied the 
expedition, and published a relation concerning it, 2 describes 
briefly the scene that met the eyes of Gosnold and his associates 
as they approached the coast. "The fourteenth, about six in the 
morning, we descried land that lay North, &c; the northerly part 
we called the North Land, which to another rock upon the same 
lying twelve leagues West, that we called Savage Rock (because 
the savages first showed themselves there)". By some, the 
"North L,and" and "Savage Rock" of Archer's narrative have 
been identified with Cape Porpoise and Cape Neddock, and this 
identification, as exceedingly probable, has received very general 
support. But identification from such meagre details is exceed- 
ingly difficult. It is enough, perhaps, to know that the fair pros- 
pect which burst upon Gosnold and his fellow voyagers as they 
caught their first glimpses of the American coast, and were thrilled 
with excited interest, was some part of Maine territory between 
Portland and Kittery. 

Proceeding southward along the coast, Gosnold passed Cape 
Cod, taking there "great store of cod-fish", 8 says Archer, "for 

1 Brereton 's narrative is the earliest printed work relating to New Eng- 
land. Two editions of it were published in 1602, the first containing twenty- 
four pages and the second forty-eight. The first of these editions will be 
found in Early English and French Voyages, 329-340. The other is in the 
third series of the Mass. Hist. Society's Coll., VIII, 83-103, and in Win- 
ship's Sailors Narratives of New England Voyages. 

2 Archer's relation is reprinted in Mass. Hist. Society's Coll., VIII, 72-81. 
8 Brereton, in his narrative, says concerning the abundance of fish upon the 

American coast: "We had pestered our ships so with cod fish that we 



GOSNOLD AND PRING. 21 

which we altered the name and called it Cape Cod." At length 
the voyagers came to an island which Gosnold named Martha's 
Vineyard. Here, turning in toward the main land, he brought 
the voyage to an end at an island which, in honor of the Queen, 
he designated Elizabeth's Isle. This is the present Cuttyhunk, 
the earlier name having become the designation of the group of 
islands to which Cuttyhunk belongs. Here preparations for a 
permanent colony were made by the erection of a storehouse and a 
fort. For the homeward voyage of the Concord such commodities 
were secured as sassafras, * cedar, and fur obtained by traffic with 
the Indians. But when these new- world products had been 
secured and were on board, and the vessel was ready to sail, those 
of the little company who had agreed to remain in the country as 
colonists refused to stay ; and the settlement which had been so 
happily founded, and represented on the part of Gosnold and some 
of his associates so much of heartfelt desire and hope, was reluc- 
tantly abandoned. This was the one great disappointment of the 
voyage. 

Gosnold reached Kxmouth, England, July 23. His failure to 
plant a colony at Elizabeth's Isle he keenly felt; but the reports 
he brought concerning the country and the great value of its coast 
fisheries furnished the needed proofs that the new world only 
awaited colonization in order to add to England's commercial 

threw numbers of them over-board again; and surely, I am persuaded that in 
the months of March, April and May, there is upon this coast, better fishing, 
and in as great plenty, as in Newfoundland; for the sculles of mackerel, 
herring, cod and other fish that we daily saw as we went and came from the 
shore, were wonderful; and besides, the places where we took these cods 
(and might in a few days have laden our ship) were in seven fathom water, 
and within less than a league of the shore, where, in Newfoundland they 
fish in forty or fifty fathom water, and far off." 

1 At that time sassafras was highly valued for its medicinal qualities. 
' 'The powder of sassafras in twelve hours cured one of our company that 
had taken a great surfeit." Archer's Relation of Gosnold' s Voyage, Mass. 
Hist. Society Coll., 3rd Series, VII, 77, 78. This new world "commodity" 
now placed upon the market in such large quantity, greatly lowered the 
price. Hitherto it had sold in London as high as twenty shillings per pound. 



22 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

activity and wealth. The relations of Brereton and Archer, 
recording events connected with the expedition, were published 
soon after Gosnold's return. These narratives, with their inter- 
esting details, were eagerly caught up and widely read. Hak- 
luyt, 1 Prebendary of St. Augustine's Cathedral church in Bristol, 
was so strongly impressed in reading these glowing descriptions 
of new- world experiences, that he called the attention of the prin- 
cipal merchants of Bristol to the ' 'many profitable and reasonable 
inducements" which America offered to English trade and coloni- 
zation ; and so by his own noble spirit led the way to new and 
larger endeavors in which Bristol was to have a most honorable 
part. 

This was not the first time in which Hakluyt had conferred 
with Bristol merchants concerning American interests. In 1582, 
Walsingham, Elizabeth's efficient Secretary of State, wrote to 
Thomas Aldworth, 2 then mayor of Bristol, informing him of Sir 

1 Hakluyt was born in 1552 or 1553, and was educated at Westminster 
School, and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree of A. B. in 
1574. His interest in maritime enterprises was manifested early in his 
career. He published his Divers Voyages in 1582. In the following year he 
was made Chaplain of the English ambassador in Paris. His Discourse on 
Western Planting was written in 1584 at the request of Sir Walter Ralegh, 
but was first printed in 1877 as the second volume of the Maine Historical 
Society's Documentary History of Maine. His great work, The Principall 
Navigations , Voiages and Discoveries of the English Nation, etc., was pub- 
lished in 1589, and an enlarged edition in three volumes in 1598-1600. He 
became Prebendary of Bristol Cathedral in 1585 and Prebendary of Westmin- 
ster in 1605. He died at Eaton, in Herefordshire, November 23, 1616, 
and was buried in Westminster Abbey, November 26, 1616. 

2 Thomas Aldworth was mayor of Bristol in 1582, and again in 1592. He 
was one of the leading merchants of Bristol, and took an active part in what- 
ever concerned the prosperity of the community and of the nation. He died 
February 25, 1598, and was buried in St. Mark's, or the Lord Mayor's 
Chapel, originally the Chapel of Gaunt's Hospital, founded about 1325. The 
chapel contains a carved freestone Gothic arched tomb and monument to the 
memory of Thomas Aldworth and his son John, the two being represented 
in effigy, kneeling, the son behind the father, their hands uplifted in the 
attitude of devotion. Both are in the costume of the period, Thomas Aldworth 
in an alderman's gown. John Aldworth died December 18, 1615, aged fifty- 



GOSNOLD AND PRING. 23 

Humphrey Gilbert's proposed expedition to the American coast, 
and suggesting Bristol's co-operation in an enterprise that prom- 
ised so much with reference to national expansion and national 
glory. He also suggested that Aldworth should consult with 
Hakluyt, already well-known on account of his deep, enthusiastic 
interest in western planting, and who was familiar with Gilbert's 
plans. Aldworth at once acted upon Walsingham's suggestion. 
Hakluyt 's assistance was secured, and with his aid Aldworth 
obtained the approval of the merchants of Bristol in the proposed 
undertaking. In his reply to Walsingham, Aldworth wrote : 
"There was eftsoons set down by men's own hands, then present, 
one thousand marks and upward, which seem if it should not 
suffice we doubt not but otherwise to furnish out for this western 
discovery a ship of three score and a bark of forty ton to be left 
in the country." 

Gilbert's failure at Newfoundland, and later the failure of Sir 
Walter Ralegh at Roanoke Island, lessened greatly, if they did 
not for the time entirely destroy, the interest of the merchant 
venturers of Bristol in American enterprises. But the return of 
the Concord with its cargo of merchantable commodities and the 
enthusiastic reports made by Gosnold and his companions con- 
cerning fishery interests in American waters, evidently awakened 
in these business men of Bristol new hopes concerning the advan- 
tages for commercial enterprise which the new world offered ; and 
Hakluyt easily succeeded in his effort to induce his Bristol friends 
to become "the chief furtherers" in anew expedition in which, 
because of lessons learned from the failures of the past, it might 
reasonably be expected that better results would follow. 

For some reason unknown, the command of the expedition was 
not given to Gosnold. It is certain, however, that it was not 
because of any dissatisfaction with him on the part of the chief 

one. That part of the chapel was in process of restoration in 1912, but was 
visited by the writer. Thomas Aldworth was the father of Robert Aldworth, 
who, with Giles Elbridge, was an early owner of Monhegan and secured large 
territorial interests on the main land. 



24 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

promoters of the venture. Gosnold's subsequent career furnishes 
the strongest possible evidence with reference to his fitness for 
important commands. But a competent navigator for the expedi- 
tion was found in Captain Martin Pring, who was born in 1580, 
probably near Awliscombe, Devon, and who at the time, accord- 
ingly, was only twenty- three years of age. Concerning Pring' s 
earlier career we have no information ; but the fact that at this 
early age he was regarded by the merchants of Bristol as "a man 
very sufficient for the place' ' is ample proof that already he had 
exhibited qualities as a seaman that attested his fitness for such 
service. Robert Salterne, who, as pilot, accompanied Gosnold in 
the successful voyage of 1602, was made Pring's assistant. 

From Salterne' s brief narration of the voyage 1 we learn that 
Hakluyt's "inducements and persuasions" in connection with the 
new undertaking were influential with John Whitson, mayor of 
Bristol, who, with the assistance of the aldermen and "most of the 
merchants of the city, ' ' raised the one thousand pounds required 
for the equipment of the expedition. Two vessels were made 
ready for Pring's use, the Speedwell 2 of about fifty tons and 
the Discoverer of twenty-six tons. Forty-three men and boys 
made up the ship's companj^. The vessels were loaded with 
' 'light merchandises thought fit to trade with the people of the 
country", and on April 10, 1603, Pring set sail from Milford 
Haven. 8 His course across the Atlantic was probably suggested 
by Gosnold, and Pring's landfall in latitude 43, according to the 
narrative which Hakluyt secured from Pring, could not have 
been far from that of his immediate predecessor on the American 

1 This narrative Captain John Smith inserted in his True Travels, Adven- 
tures and Observations, reprinted in 1819 from the London edition of 1629, 
I, 108, 109. 

2 It is thought that the Speedwell may have been included in Drake's fleet 
in 1587, 1588, inasmuch as a vessel of the same name, and having the same 
tonnage, had a part in the fight in the harbor of Cadiz in 1587, and also in 
the conflict with the Spanish Armada in 1588. Many merchant vessels were 
in the national service at that time. 

3 A haven on the southwestern part of the coast of Wales. 



GOSNOU) AND PRING. 25 

coast. In that narrative mention is made of islands in connection 
with the landfall, and the relation adds: "One of them we 
named Fox Island, because we found those kind of beasts there- 
on." As the islands east of the southern part of Penobscot Bay- 
have long been known as the Fox Islands, it has been inferred 
that Pring 's landfall is to be found at this part of the Maine coast. 
The latitude of the landfall, however, is not favorable to this 
inference ; but inasmuch as Pring, after proceeding in toward the 
mainland, ranged to the northward as far as latitude 43£, it is 
probable that Pring passed up the coast as far as the Fox Islands. 
Certainly he must have sailed along a large part of the coast of 
Maine. Not finding sassafras in his northward progress, Pring 
turned about and shaped his course for Savage Rock "discovered 
the year before by Captain Gosnold", and later, bearing into the 
great "Gulf" which "Gosnold over-shot the year before", he 
landed in a certain bay which he named Whitson's Bay 1 in honor 
of the mayor of Bristol. The Simancas map of 1610, 2 which 
indicates a large part of the North American Atlantic coast line, 
attaches the designation "Whitson's Bay" to what is now known 
as Massachusetts Bay, and gives to the northernmost part of Cape 
Cod the designation "Whitson's Head". 8 Not far from his land- 

1 Early English and French Voyages, 345. 

2 This map, which has a place in Alexander Brown's Genesis of the 
United States (I, facing 456) , is said to have been prepared by a surveyor 
whom James I sent to Virginia for this purpose in 1610. It evidently embod- 
ies the English maps of White, Gosnold, Pring, Waymouth and others. 
Brown thinks it was compiled and drawn either by Robert Tyndall or by 
Captain Powell. It was discovered in the library at Simancas, Spain, by 
Dr. J. h. M. Curry, while he was envoy extraordinary and minister plenipo- 
tentiary of the United States at the Court of Spain, 1885-1888. The map had 
disappeared in England, and, as Mr. Brown says, "It is curious that it should 
be first published in the strange country which it attempted to delineate". 
The historical value of this map is very great. 

3 John Whitson was worthy of this recognition by Pring and his associates. 
He was not only one of the most prominent of the merchants of Bristol, but 
exerted a strong influence in civic relations. He became mayor of Bristol 
in 1603, and held the office also in 1615. He was the member of Parliament 
from Bristol in 1605-11, 1616 and 1625. He died in Bristol and was buried 



26 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

ing in Whitson's Bay, Pring and his companions in their explora- 
tion came to "a pleasant hill thereunto adjoining; we called it 
Mount Aid worth for master Robert Aldworth's sake, a chief fur- 
therer of the voyage as well with his purse as with his travail". 
This is an early mention of one who, at a later period, became 
closely connected with the beginnings of colonial Maine. 

At his landing in Whitson's Bay, Pring, by the end of July, 
had secured as much sassafras as would "give some speedy con- 
tentment" to the Bristol adventurers; and the Discoverer, laden 
largely with this commodity, sailed homeward, leaving Pring to 
follow with the Speedwell when the other objects of the expedi- 
tion, such as conditions with reference to trade and colonization, 
had received that careful consideration which the promotors of 
the expedition desired. These final preparations for the return 
voyage of the Speedwell were completed about August 8, or 9, 
and Pring arrived in England October 2. 1 

The arrival of the Discoverer had already furnished general 
information concerning the success of Pring' s expedition. The 

March 9, 1628, in the crypt of St. Nicholas Church. On his monument in 
this church is the following inscription : "In memory of that great benefac- 
tor, to this city, John Whitson, merchant, twice Mayor and Alderman, and 
four times member of Parliament for this city ; who died in the seventy-sec- 
ond year of his age, A. D. 1629. A worthy pattern to all that come after 
him." Bancroft, in his History of the United States, following Belknap, 
identifies Whitson's Bay with the harbor of Bdgartown, Martha's Vineyard, 
having regard to the latitude mentioned in the narrative of the voyage. The 
narrative implies, however, that the bay is to be found in the southern part 
of the "great Gulf which Captain Gosnold over-shot the year before". Dr. 
B. F. DeCosta {Magazine of American History, VIII, 807-819) accordingly 
identified Whitson's Bay with the harbor of Plymouth, into which the May- 
flower brought the Pilgrims in 1620. This identification seems best to meet 
the requirements of the narrative. 

1 A tercentenary commemoration of Pring 's voyage to the New England 
coast in 1603 was held by the Maine Historical Society in Portland, November 
19, 1903, and the proceedings were published by the Society in its Collections, 
3rd Series, 2, 1-50. Hon. James P. Baxter read a paper entitled The Avant 
Couriers of Colonization and Prof. A. L.. P. Dennis read a paper entitled 
Captain Martin Pring, Last of the Elizabethan Seamen, to which he added 
a valuable Pring bibliography. 



GOSNOLD AND PRING. 27 

story now was made complete. Concerning the fertility of the 
country, this was said: 1 "Passing up the river we saw certain 
cottages [wigwams] together, abandoned by the savages, and not 
far off we beheld their gardens and one among the rest of an acre 
of ground, and in the same was some tobacco, pumpkins, cucum- 
bers and such like ; and some of the people had maize or Indian 
wheat among them. In the fields we found wild peas, strawber- 
ries very fair and big, gooseberries, raspberries, hurts and other 
wild fruits. We pared and digged up the earth with shovels, and 
sowed wheat, barley, oats, peas and sundry sorts of garden seed, 
which for the time of our abode there, being about seven weeks, 
although they were late sown, came up very well, giving certain 
testimony of the goodness of the climate and of the soil. And it 
seemeth that oats, hemp, flax, rape-seed and such like, which 
require a rich and fat ground, would prosper excellently in these 
parts. For in divers places here we found grass above knee 
deep." Mention also was made of the trees of the country, with 
many of which Pring and his companions were familiar in their 
English homes ; but there were "divers other sorts of trees" that 
to them were unknown. References also were made to fur-bear- 
ing animals, such as beavers, otters, wolves, bears, foxes, etc., 
whose skins could be secured by exchange with the Indians, 
yielding "no small gain" to the trader because of the great profit 
which the exchange afforded. But this was not all, and the new- 
world voyagers, having in mind a large Bristol industry, did not 
fail to call attention to the immense value of the fisheries on the 
American coast ; and they closed their encouraging report with 
reference to the qualities of the soil and its products with these 
words : "And as the land is full of God's good blessings, so is the 
sea replenished with great abundance of excellent fish, or cod 
sufficient to laden many ships, which we found upon the coast in 
the month of June. Seals to make oil withal, mullets, turbots, 
mackerel, herring, crabs, lobsters, oysters and muscles with ragged 
pearls in them." 2 

1 Early English and French Voyages, 349. 

2 Early English and French Voyages, 350. This narrative first appeared 



28 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

The report was certainly a most welcome one. It not only con- 
firmed the reports made by Gosnold and his associates the year 
before, but it presented interesting details with reference to the 
products of the country, and emphasized most strongly the oppor- 
tunity that the new world afforded for profitable trade relations 
with the Indians. Such a report could hardly have failed to make 
a favorable impression upon the enterprising merchant venturers 
of Bristol, as well as upon all others interested in the results of 
Pring's voyage and exploration. No expedition, however, 
designed to secure immediate further advancement of English 
interests in this vicinity sailed from Bristol, or any other port in 
England in 1604 ; and Pring, who doubtless could have been 
secured for added service in yet other explorations here, was 
employed that season as master of the Phoenix in Captain Charles 
Leigh's ill-fated expedition to Guiana. 

in Purchas' Pilgrimes, which was published in 1625. Purchas regarded 
Pring as the authority of the relation, but in part at least the story of the 
voyage seems to have been written by another hand. For example, in the 
last paragraph the writer mentions "our Captain". It is known that Hak- 
luyt — of course after the publication of his great work Principall Naviga- 
tions, etc. — secured the narrative from Pring. Doubtless one would not 
go far astray who should make Hakluyt largely Pring's amanuensis in its 
preparation. 



CHAPTER III. 
Thb d£ Monts Colony. 

BUT any delay in maintaining England's claim to territory on 
the Atlantic coast of the North American continent was 
not without peril to English interests. Already France had 
seized large possessions on the St. Lawrence, also in regions far 
within the interior of the continent, south of the Great L,akes ; and 
having purposes whose meaning was obvious, that nation could 
not be expected to leave out of view the unoccupied territory on 
the Atlantic seaboard. In fact, with information concerning the 
voyages of Gosnold and Pring, France was not losing any time in 
asserting such purposes; and the King, as early as November 8, 
1603, gave to Sieur de Monts, 1 an officer of the royal household, 
a charter that conveyed to him trading and seigniorial rights in 
American territory between the fortieth and forty-sixth parallels 
of latitude, that is, from about St. John's, Newfoundland, to Phil- 
adelphia. 2 

De Monts was not without experience in the affairs of France 
on this side of the sea, having accompanied Chauvin to the St. 
Lawrence settlements not long before. What he then learned con- 
cerning the climate in that region, as compared with that of his 

1 Champlain (Cfiamfilain's Voyages, Prince Society, 1878, II, 4, 5) says de 
Monts ' 'desired to attempt what had been given up in despair, and requested 
a commission for this purpose of his Majesty, being satisfied that the previ- 
ous [French] enterprises had failed because the undertakers of them had not 
received assistance, who had not succeeded, in one nor even two years' time, 
in making the acquaintance of the regions and people there, nor in finding 
harbors adapted for a settlement". 

2 This charter, or a contemporary copy, is in the Bureau des Marines et 
Colonies in Paris, and extracts in an English translation are printed in the 
Farnham Papers, I, 1-6. The charter conferred upon de Monts a monopoly 
of the fur trade. 



30 THE BEGINNINGS OF COEONIAE MAINE. 

native land, doubtless now impressed him with the importance of 
seeking a location for his colony farther southward. 

No distinctive religious purpose in the movement was indicated 
in the persons brought together who comprised de Monts' party. 
Happily, at that time in France, Catholics and Protestants were at 
peace, 1 and both were represented in the expedition. De Monts 
was a Protestant, while Samuel de Champlain, 2 the geographer of 

1 The struggle in France for religious liberty had continued for many years 
with varying fortunes, but at length had been brought to a happy issue. 
In 1598, only six years before de Monts conducted his colony to the Amer- 
can coast, Henry IV, King of France, recognizing the "frightful troubles, 
confusion and disorders" to which on his accession to the throne he found 
his Kingdom a prey, promulgated the famous Edict of Nantes, which gave 
liberty of conscience to all the inhabitants of the land, granting to them the 
right to dwell anywhere in the royal dominions and to meet for religious pur- 
poses without being subjected to inquiry, vexed, molested or constrained to 
do anything contrary to the dictates of conscience. What this meant to many 
of the King's subjects, long harrassed, distressed, it is difficult now even to 
conceive. To thousands this edict was a call to a new and better life. Some- 
what tardily, Parliament in the following year, 1599, formally entered this 
important document upon its registers, and so confirmed to warring, fac- 
tional France, Catholic and Protestant alike, the boon of religious liberty. 
It was not for long, however. For twelve years, or until the close of the 
reign of Henry IV, the Edict of Nantes was in full operation. Then followed 
unceasing assaults upon the rights which it guaranteed; and at length, in 
1685, came its revocation — the culmination of a series of events that are 
written large upon the pages of the history of France. 

2 Champlain was a native of Brouage, a small village in the province of 
Saintonge, France, and was born about the year 1567. From his early years 
he gave attention to practical seamanship, had an army experience of several 
years after 1592, and in 1599 was in command of a French ship of 500 tons in 
the West Indies. On his return he prepared a report of his discoveries and 
observations with illustrations, which remained in manuscript until printed 
in an English translation by the Hakluyt Society in 1859. In the preceding 
year Champlain accompanied Pont Grave in his expedition to the St. Law- 
rence, and it was his report concerning the inhabitants and products of the 
country that directed the attention of the King to the opportunities that the 
new world afforded for French colonization and led to the de Monts expedi- 
tion and Champlain 's connection with it. Thenceforward Champlain' s life 
was devoted to French interests in America. It was an eventful life. Fit- 
tingly it closed at Quebec, where Champlain died in the autumn of 1635. 



THE DE MONTS COLONY. 31 

the company, and the most distinguished of de Monts' associates, 
was a Catholic. Of religious discussions among some of the colo- 
nists, however, there was no lack, as the records of the expedition 
show; but the purposes that led to the enterprise had no religious 
ends in view. The ends were pre-eminently national, and those 
most deeply interested in the colony evidently saw no reason why 
Catholic and Protestant might not work together harmoniously in 
the endeavor to establish a French settlement at some point on the 
Atlantic coast below Cape Breton. 

Among the colonists there were skilled artisans, selected doubt- 
less with reference to the requirements of such an undertaking. 
But their number was not large compared with others who are 
described as vagabonds and ex-convicts,— men upon whom little 
dependence could be placed in an enterprise calling for steadfast- 
ness and heroic endurance amid trying circumstances. Two ves- 
sels, one of one hundred and twenty tons and one of one hundred 
and fifty tons, were secured for the transportation of the colony, 
and April 7, 1604, de Monts sailed out of the harbor of Havre 
de Grace, westward bound, followed by the prayers and good wishes 
of his countrymen. 1 

The usual route of French vessels in crossing the Atlantic was 
followed until the American coast was reached early in May. 
Then, turning southward, and proceeding down the coast, de 
Monts entered the Bay of Fundy and commenced the work of 
exploration with reference to a location for a settlement. Skirt- 
ing the shores of the bay, including those of adjoining waters 
now known as Annapolis Basin, he failed to discover such a spot 

"He was buried in the memorial Chapel which he had erected. This Chapel 
was subsequently destroyed and the place which it occupied forgotten; so 
that to-day we know not the spot where he was buried. It is perhaps enough 
to know that his dust is commingled with that of the land he loved, though 
the name by which he knew it [New France] is no longer on the tongues of 
living men." Hon. James P. Baxter, in an address at the 300th anniversary 
of de Monts settlement on St. Croix Island. See Me. Hist. Society's Coll , 
Series III, 2, 144. 
1 Champlain's Voyages, II, 7. 



32 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

as he deemed desirable. 1 Sailing still farther southward, he came 
near the end of June into a bay, the present Passamaquoddy Bay. 
At its northern part a broad river opened, and ascending its invit- 
ing waters, de Monts and his companions, not far from the mouth 
of the river, came to an island that offered easy protection for 
defence against hostile assault. It seemed an attractive spot for 
the proposed settlement; and such it was under sunny skies and 
surrounded with scenes of summer beauty on every hand. Here, 
accordingly, on June 26, or 27, choice of a location was made. 
De Monts gave to the island the designation St. Croix, the name 
also now borne by the river in which the island of the settlement is 
located. 2 

Plans for the erection of dwellings, storehouses, and other build- 
ings were prepared, and the colonists entered upon the work of 
their construction. Leaving this scene of busy activity Septem- 
ber 2, Cham plain availed himself of an opportunity for added 
exploration and map-making still farther down the coast. His 
journal gives us interesting glimpses of the land as he proceeded. 
He was the first of the early voyagers to make mention of Mount 
Desert, that most attractive spot on the Maine coast. In fact, it 
was Champlain who gave to the island its name. 3 Proceeding on 
his way, Champlain at length entered Penobscot Bay and river 
and extended his exploration of the river (which he mentions 

1 Champlain, in his Voyages (Prince Society, II, 22), referring to this 
Basin, says, "which I have named Port Royal", a name which was soon 
applied to the settlement made on the north shore of the Basin. A map of 
the Basin, with Champlain's description of it, faces p. 24 of the Voyages. 

2 The name St. Croix, as applied to the river, was suggested by the fact that 
two streams enter the river a few miles above St. Croix Island, one from the 
east and one from the west, furnishing in this way the representation of a 
cross. 

3 "From this island [Mt. Desert] to the main land on the north, the dis- 
tance is less than a hundred paces. It is very high, and notched in places, 
so that there is the appearance to one at sea, as of seven or eight mountains 
extending along near each other. The summit of the most of them is desti- 
tute of trees, as there are only rocks on them. The woods consist of pines, 
fir, and birches only. I named it Isle des Monts Deserts." Champlain's 
Voyages, II, 39. 



;>■ 



V 




o 

M 



J 

3 
pq 

a 

<! 



U 



THE DE MONTS COLONY. 33 

under the name "Pentegouet" and also "Norumbegue") as far as 
the site of Bangor. While in the river, Champlain had an inter- 
view with the "Bessabez," or chief of the Indians of that region, 
to whom, in the name of de Monts, he made overtures of friend- 
ship. Thence, Champlain made his way to the Kennebec ("Quin- 
ibequy"), and attempted the exploration of the river. Unfavor- 
able weather, however, prevented the accomplishment of his pur- 
pose in following its reach northward ; and descending to the sea, 
he turned back up the coast September 23, and reached St. Croix 
island October 2. 1 

The winter that followed opened early and was one of great 
severity. The evidence was now borne in upon the colonists that 
the location had not been wisely chosen. During the winter 
months they suffered greatly not only from the cold winds that 
swept fiercely across the surrounding ice fields, but also from lack 
of wood and water. Amid these discouraging outward circum- 
stances, scurvy assailed the colonists, and thirty-five of the sev- 
enty-nine who comprised the company died of the dread disease 
before the season closed. 2 Indeed so discouraging was the condi- 
tion of the colonists before the winter ended that the abandonment 
of the undertaking seemed inevitable. 

In the early summer of 1605, however, new hopes were awak- 
ened by the change of seasons and especially by the opportune 
arrival of supplies from France. Exploration farther down the 
coast it was thought might secure more desirable conditions, and 
de Monts and Champlain, with some of their associates, accord- 
ingly left St. Croix island June 18, for such added exploration. 
Passing the entire length of what is now the coast of Maine, 8 also 

1 Champlain 's Voyages, II, 38-48. 

2 Champlain says snow began to fall October 6, and was from ' 'three to 
four feet deep up to the end of the month of April." For his account of the 
sufferings of the colonists during that long winter see Champlain 's Voyages, 
II, 50-53. 

3 On reaching the Kennebec the party made an extended exploration of 
the river, ascending to its head waters, where the Indians ' 'go by this river 
across the country to Quebec". Proceeding farther along the coast from the 

3 



34 THE BEGINNINGS OF COEONIAE MAINE. 

southward to Cape Cod, and as far along the Massachusetts coast 
as the entrance to Vineyard Sound, they failed to find the favor- 
able location they sought ; and on July 25 , they turned their boat 
northward and set out on their return. 

Reaching the mouth of the Kennebec on July 29, they tarried 
awhile, possibly making further exploration. But neither there, 
nor at other places in the vicinity, were they successful in rinding 
such a site for a colonial settlement as seemed to offer conditions 
deemed by them important. While they were at the river and in 
communication with Kennebec Indians, Anasou, an Indian chief, 
told them of a vessel ten leagues to the eastward, 1 and that those 
on board had killed five Indians "of this river", meaning the 
Kennebec. From the story in its details, de Monts and his asso- 
ciates rightly inferred that an English vessel was in the neighbor- 
hood. No further mention of the vessel occurs in Champlain's 
narrative ; but the presence of an English ship on the coast, and 
the incident mentioned by Anasou in connection with his report 
concerning it, must have left upon the minds of de Monts and his 
little company evidence that England's claim to territory on the 
coast was receiving added attention. Certainly there was no fur- 
ther delay at the Kennebec, and the party made its way back to 
St. Croix island, which was reached August 8. 

In all probability the colonists, who had wearily watched for 
de Monts' return, experienced no disappointment on receiving the 
report the exploring party brought. The horrors of the preced- 
ing winter still hung heavily upon them, and something must be 

mouth of the Kennebec (making mention of Seguin under the name "Tor- 
toise Island"), Champlain and his companions reached "a bay where there 
were a great many islands" (Casco bay), and from which large mountains 
were "seen to the west" (White Mountains). Richmond's island Champlain 
named Isle de Bacchus, because of its "beautiful grapes". Champlain'' s Voy- 
ages \ II, 55. 

1 Champlain'' s Voyages, II, 91. Champlain saj'S, "we named the island 
where they were I/a Nef [the ship] for, at a distance, it had the appearance 
of a ship". The reference was to Monhegan, it is inferred; but if Anasou 
was rightly understood, he was in error, as he was with reference to the five 
Indians, who were captured not at Monhegan, but at St. George's harbor. 



THE DU MONTS COLONY. 35 

done. De Monts' purposes had no suggestion of anything more 
than a withdrawal to Port Royal. 1 The settlement at St. Croix 
island was abandoned, and the proposed change of base was 
made. 

Ill fortune, however, still followed the colonists. Soon after 
their arrival at Port Royal, de Monts, having established there his 
depleted company, set sail for France, still having the interests of 
the colony in view. The loss of one so prominent in its affairs 
must have had a depressing effect upon those left behind. The 
long, cold, dreary and inactive winter months only deepened the 
gloom of the situation. Indeed to such an extent did the colo- 
nists become disheartened amid their lonely surroundings, that 
home-longings were strengthened day by day ; and, when the 
opportunity at length offered, the remaining colonists, unwilling to 
endure the experience of another winter under such hard circum- 
stances, followed de Monts back to France, arriving at St. Malo, 
October 1, 1607. 2 

The attempt to plant a French colony on the Atlantic coast of 
the North American continent had failed. If it had succeeded, 
France would have secured a favorable outpost for a still farther 
advance in the effort to have and to hold the vast domain desig- 
nated by the King in the charter that de Monts received. It is 
difficult to account for de Monts' failure on any other ground 
than that of weakness in most of the colonists. Aside from 
Champlain, and a few others it may be, the colonists at Port Royal 
were not of such stuff as is required in the founders of states, or 
in the beginnings of any large enterprise. St. Croix island, it is 
true, was an unfortunate location for the colony ; but Pilgrims 
and Puritans, not many years later, made permanent settlements 
in territory not much farther south, and within the limits of de 
Monts' exploration. The colonists were too easily discouraged. 

1 Champlain's Voyages, II, 94. Sieur de Poutrincourt, who accompanied 
the expedition "only for his pleasure", asked de Monts for Port Royal soon 
after their arrival upon the coast ; and he gave it to him in accordance with 
authority received from the King. {Voyages, II, 37.,) 

2 Champlain' s Voyages, I, 77. 



36 THE BEGINNINGS OF COEONIAE MAINE. 

They were lacking in high aims and the cheerful endurance of 
great hardships. Their presence on the coast, however, proved a 
spur to English endeavor. The prize at stake was large, and if 
England would seize it there was need of haste as well as strength 
of purpose and heroic determination. 1 

1 The tercentenary of de Monts' settlement at St. Croix island was com- 
memorated on that island by the Maine Historical Society, June 25, 1904 ; and 
the proceedings were published by the Society in an attractive illustrated 
pamphlet of seventy-eight pages. See also Me. Hist. Society'' s Coll., Series 
III, 2, 74-151. 




De Monts' Colony Memorial on St. Croix Island. 
Unveiled June 25, 1904. 



CHAPTER IV. 
Waymouth's Voyage; of 1605. 

ENGIylSH interests upon the American coast, however, had 
not ceased to receive attention in England. The Earl of 
Southampton, who was one of the principal promoters of 
Gosnold's expedition of 1602, was now at liberty, James I, at the 
beginning of his reign, having opened the Earl's prison doors 
and restored to him the titles and estates of which he had been 
deprived. Shortly after this restoration — the Earl's new patent 
was issued July 1, 1603 — occurred the return of Pring from his 
successful voyage hither. The report he brought awakened in the 
released prisoner an enthusiastic desire for participation in efforts 
that would enhance the glory of England on this side of the sea. 
In 1604, he was busily engaged in making plans for another expe- 
dition to the American coast. With him, in the undertaking, were 
associated his son-in-law, Thomas Arundell, 1 afterward Baron of 
Wardour, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 2 whose name was to become 

1 Thomas Arundell had service under the Emperor Rudolph II. He took in 
action with his own hand a standard of the Turks, and December 14, 1595, 
was created a count of the Holy Roman Empire for this achievement, but was 
forbidden by Queen Elizabeth to use the title, saying, ' 'She liked not for her 
sheep to wear a stranger's mark, nor to dance after a foreigner's whistle." 
He was elevated to the English peerage May 4, 1605, and died in 1639 or 
1640. 

2 A son of Edward Gorges and his wife Cicely Iyygon, he was born about 
1566. He was knighted by Essex before Rouen in October, 1591. While in 
the Netherlands in 1596, he received orders to take charge of work on the 
fortifications at Plymouth, England. About July, 1603, he was deprived of 
his command at Plymouth, but it was restored to him in a few months, and 
he retained the command there many years. His interest in American colo- 
nization, beginning at this time, was a lifelong interest. For an extended 
account of his life, also for his writings and letters, see Hon. James P. Bax- 
ter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, Prince Society, 1900, 
3 volumes. 



38 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

so prominently identified with the history of early colonization on 
the Maine coast. Probably, also, Sir John Popham, 1 then Chief 
Justice of England, had a part in the new undertaking. 

The command of the expedition was given to Captain George 
Way mouth, already mentioned in connection with his search for a 
northwest passage to India in 1602. Since his return, as may be 
inferred from what is known concerning his attainments, he had 
been engaged in studies extending beyond the science of naviga- 
tion, including shipbuilding and the science of fortification. 2 

Aside from these facts, there is no information with reference 
to the preparations for the voyage. Even the name of the vessel 
provided for the expedition — the Archangel — 8 would not have 

1 Sir John Popham was born at Wellington, Somersetshire, about 1531. 
He was educated at Baliol College, Oxford, became Recorder of Bristol; 
member of Parliament for Bristol in 1571; Solicitor- General, 1579; Attorney 
General, 1581; Speaker of the House of Commons, 1581-83; and Chief Jus- 
tice of the realm, 1592, when he was knighted and made a privy Councilor. 
He presided at the trial of Sir Walter Ralegh in 1603, and at the trial of Guy 
Fawkes and his companions in 1606. He died June 10, 1607. Rev. H. O. 
Thayer, in his Sagadahoc Colony, Gorges Society, 1892, 26, discriminately 
says of him: ' 'Justice Popham was a man of mixed character, not all good, not 
wholly bad. Integrity without numerous flaws cannot be affirmed. He 
administered the laws with vigor, often with severity, nor can it be denied 
that his administration in respect to the criminal classes was on the whole 
salutary." An elaborate tomb in the church at Wellington still marks his 
burial place. 

2 In 1885, Hon. James P. Baxter, of Portland, Me., discovered in the King's 
library in the British Museum, L/ondon, a manuscript volume on naviga- 
tion, shipbuilding and fortification, written by Waymouth and dedicated to 
the King. It bears no date, but as it makes mention of Waymouth's voy- 
age of 1602, and is silent with reference to the voyage of 1605, it may be 
assigned to the year 1603 or 1604. The volume is illustrated by about two 
hundred pages of colored drawings, and was evidently designed to make 
upon the King a favorable impression of the author. Mr. Baxter possesses 
a copy of this valuable manuscript, including both text and illustrations, and 
with fac-simile binding. Without doubt it is the only copy ever made. 

3 Rosier does not mention the name of the vessel, nor is it found in the 
accounts of the voyage, recorded by Gorges, Strachey or Purchas. Prince 
{Me. Hist. Society 's Coll., Series I, 6, 294) says Waymouth's ship is "sup- 
posed to have been called the 'Archangel' ". So far as the writer is aware 



waymouth's voyage;. 39 

come down to us had it not been mentioned in the annals of a later 
chronicler. Of the twenty-eight men associated with Waymouth 
in the expedition, the names of only Thomas Cam, the mate of the 
Archangel, James Rosier, * who wrote the Relation of the voy- 
age, and John Stoneman, who will be mentioned again later, have 
come down to us. Most of the adventurers, as Rosier tells us, 
were "near inhabitants on the Thames". They were doubtless 
such men as any expedition of like character would attract at that 
time, — hardy seamen who were ready for an enterprise that prom- 
ised novelty and some excitement. 

The vessel was made ready for the voyage at Ratcliffe on the 
Thames, a hamlet east of London, the highway connecting the 
village with the metropolis, being known as the Regent Street of 
London sailors. It is not difficult to picture to ourselves the scene 
at the departure of the expedition. It was at the opening of the 
season, Tuesday, March 5, 1605. In all probability among those 
assembled at the dock were the Earl of Southampton, his son-in- 
law, Thomas Arundell, and possibly Sir John Popham and Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges. There were many best wishes for the whole 
company, and many last words. Then, when the lines were cast 
off, strong English cheers went up from the assembled crowd, and 
the Archangel dropped down the river. 

A fair wind in four hours brought the vessel to Gravesend, 
thirty miles below London. But head- winds kept the voyagers on 
the English coast until the close of March. With reference to the 
experiences of Waymouth and his companions in the channel har- 

the name of the vessel first appears in Dr. John Harris' Collection of Voyages 
and Travels. The first edition appeared in 1702-5; revised edition, Lon- 
don, 1764, II, 223. Dr. Harris (1667-1719) was one of the early members 
of the Royal Society, and for awhile acted as its Vice President. 

1 Rosier was one of Gosnold's company in the expedition of 1602. Pur- 
chas, in his Pilgrimes (IV, 1646-1653) includes three documents relating to 
Gosnold's voyage. 1. A letter from Captain Gosnold to his father; 2. 
Gabriel Archer's account of the voyage; 3. A chapter entitled, "Notes 
taken out of a tractate written by James Rosier to Sir Walter Ralegh". This 
last is in error. The tractate presented to Ralegh was written by John Brere- 
ton, not by Rosier. 



40 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

bors, Rosier is silent. April 1, the Archangel was six leagues 
southeast of the Lizards, the most southern promontory of Eng- 
land. On April 14, Corvo and afterward Flores islands of the 
Azores group were sighted. As the voyage continued, south- 
erly winds prevailed, and Waymouth, unable to hold the course 
he had proposed to take, was compelled to head his vessel farther 
to the northward. 

On May 13, there were indications of the near approach of 
land, and on the following day, a sailor at the masthead descried 
a whitish, sandy cliff, west northwest, about six leagues distant, 
supposed from Rosier' s statement to be Sankaty Head, 1 the 
eastern extremity of Nantucket island. Nantucket is surrounded 
by shoals, 2 and Waymouth, sailing in toward the sandy cliff, 
soon found his vessel in peril. The prow of the Archangel 
was hurriedly turned back, and standing off all that night and the 
next day, Waymouth endeavored to make his way to the south- 
ward, in accordance with the course of the voyage as planned ; 8 
but the wind was contrary and the vessel was driven northward. 
On May 16 the Archangel was still seeking land. It was not 
until the close of the following day, however, that land was again 
descried. At the time, the wind was still blowing a gale, the sea 

1 In 1797, Captain John F. Williams, of the U. S. Revenue Service, at the 
request of Dr. Jeremy Belknap, the historian, made a study of Rosier's 
Relation. Concerning Waymouth 's approach to the American coast, he said: 
"The first land Capt. Waymouth saw, a whitish sandy cliff W. N. W. six 
leagues, must have been Sankaty Head." American Biography, Hubbard's 
3$d. , 2, 249. The above statement is confirmed by all later writers concern- 
ing Waymouth' s voyage. 

2 The eastward shoals make it one of the most dreaded parts of the coast. 
' 'These shifting sandy shores, which extend in a southeasterly direction from 
the southeastern end of the island, have various depths upon them ranging 
from six feet to four fathoms, and change their positions more or less after 
every heavy gale." Coast Survey Pilot from Boston to New York, 82. 

3 See Rosier's Relation to Waymouth' s Voyage to the Coast of Maine , 1605. 
This reprint of the Relation (85-162 with notes) is from the copy in the John 
Carter Brown I/ibrary, Brown University. Excellent reprints are included in 
George Parker Winship's Sailors Narratives, and Early English and French 
Voyages. 



waymouth's voyage. 41 

was running high, and it was not deemed safe to approach the 
shore. When the morning broke, it was discovered that the land 
was that of an island "some six miles in compass", according to 
Rosier' s estimate. By noon the Archangel was anchored on the 
north side of the island and about a league from it. Two hours 
later, with twelve of his men, Waymouth rowed to the shore of 
the island for wood and water of which they were in need, and 
having obtained a supply they returned to the ship. This island, 
named by Waymouth St. George's island, was Monhegan, 1 as is 
conceded by all who have given any careful attention to Rosier 's 
Relation. 

' 'While we were at shore, ' ' says Rosier, who evidently was one 
of the landing party, "our men aboard [the Archangel] with a 
few hooks got about thirty great cods and haddocks, which gave 
us a taste of the great plenty of fish which we found afterward 
wheresoever we went upon the coast' ' . Continuing his narrative 
he adds: "From hence we might discern the mainland from the 
west southwest to the east northeast, and a great way (as it then 
seemed, and as we after found it) up into the main we might dis- 
cern very high mountains, though the main seemed but lowland ; 
which gave us a hope it would please God to direct us to the dis- 
covery of some good ; although we were driven by winds far from 
that place whither (both by our direction and desire) we ever 
intended to shape the course of our voyage. ' ' 

1 Captain John Smith, who was at Monhegan in the summer of 1614, 
briefly described the island in these words "Monahigan is a round high isle; 
and close by it Monanis, betwixt which is a small harbor where we ride". 
Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 46, 47. On the Simancas 
map of 1610, the island bears the name given to it by Waymouth. When 
Capt. John Smith wrote his Description of New England, however, he 
recorded the Indian name, and happily the island has continued to bear the 
Indian designation to the present time. 

2 As Rosier has just referred to the return of the boat to the ship's anchor- 
age, and to the occupation of the sailors while Waymouth and his party 
were ashore, the writer of the above must have had in mind the view of the 
coast as seen from the deck of the Archangel, anchored a league north of 
the island. 



42 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

To the weary, storm-tossed voyagers the scene must have been 
one of peculiar interest. There were other islands toward the 
land, and not far away, eastward and westward, but further in, 
the long, wooded coast line was seen; while higher "up into the 
main" there were mountains darkly, beautifully blue, conspicu- 
ous features of the coast landscape. Waymouth and his compan- 
ions were looking upon a fringe of the new world. 

The Archangel remained at her anchorage that night, and on 
the following day, because the vessel "rode too much open to the 
sea and winds", Waymouth weighed anchor, and brought his 
vessel "to the other islands more adjoining to the main, and in 
the rode directly with the mountains". It has been maintained 
that the mountains Waymouth saw, and in the direction of which 
he made his way to "the other islands" where he found a conven- 
ient harbor, were the White Mountains. Only at rare intervals, 
however, when the sky is exceptionally clear, can even the tower- 
ing peak of Mount Washington be seen from the high ground at 
Monhegan, and then merely as a faint speck on the horizon. 
Only at rarest intervals can Mount Washington be seen from the 
shore on the north side of Monhegan ; while from either location, 
"a great way up into the main", appear the Camden and Union 
mountains clearly outlined against the sky, objects which no 
mariner approaching the coast at this point could possibly fail to 
notice. 1 

1 JoKn McKeen (Me. Hist. Society's Coll., Series I, 5, 313, 314) identified 
these mountains as the White and Blue mountains. R. K. Sewall (Ancient 
Dominions, 59) held that the mountains Waymouth saw were the White 
Mountains. Dr. Edward Ballard (Popham Memorial Volume, 303) adopted 
the same view. On the contrary William Willis (Me. Hist. Society's Coll., 
Series I, 8, 346) insisted that the White Mountains lie far to the west, and 
can only be seen under favorable circumstances; and that the mountains 
seen by Waymouth were "the Camden and other heights bordering the 
Penobscot Bay". Prince (Me. Hist. Society's Coll., Series I, 6, 294) says 
"the Camden and Union mountains" are the only conspicuous heights along 
the coast visible from Monhegan. That the mountains here referred to in 
the Relation were the Camden and Union mountains is the view now gen- 
erally held. For a full presentation of the facts, see Rosier's Relation of 
Waymouth' s Voyage, Gorges Society, 1887, 96-100. 




Titi<e Page of Roster's True Relation. 



waymouth's voyage. 43 

The harbor in which Waymouth anchored the Archangel, and 
which he called Pentecost harbor 1 , was an island harbor, and 
Rosier 's narrative furnishes abundant means for its identification 
with the present St. George's harbor. From Waymouth's 
anchorage a league north of Monhegan, it is reached by proceed- 
ing "along to the other islands more adjoining to the main", and 
is "in the rode directly" with the mountains which Waymouth 
had before him. Moreover, it is a harbor formed by islands, hav- 
ing four entrances, as the harbor mentioned by Rosier. Indeed, 
the endeavor to identify the Pentecost harbor of Rosier 's Relation 
with Boothbay harbor, or with any other harbor on the neighbor- 
ing coast, fails to meet these and other requirements of Rosier 's 
narrative. 2 

But the paramount purposes of the voyage were not to be ful- 
filled by merely an approach to the coast. A few days were spent 
by Waymouth and his companions in obtaining rest from the 
weariness of the voyage. Then, after setting up a cross upon the 
shore of one of the islands, 8 a token of England's claim to the ter- 
ritory, the work of exploration began. In his shallop, which had 
been put in order since the Archangel's arrival in Pentecost har- 
bor, and with nearly half of his company, Waymouth proceeded 
in toward the mainland in order to discover its resources and pos- 
sibilities for English colonization, and soon found himself in a 

1 The Archangel sailed on Easter day from its last harbor in England. It 
entered its first harbor on the American coast on Pentecost day, and accord- 
ingly received its name, Pentecost harbor. 

2 The approach to Pentecost harbor from the anchorage of the Archangel 
north of Monhegan is that which one has to-day in entering St. George's 
harbor from the sea. The latter is reached (as was Pentecost harbor by 
Waymouth) by sailing in "to the other islands more adjoining to the main's. 
The islands that make the four entrances to St. George's harbor are Allen's, 
Burnt, Benner's and Davis. 

3 Probably Allen's island. On this island, in connection with the celebra- 
ion of the tercentenary of Waymouth's voyage, and not far it is believed 
from the spot on which Waymouth and his associates erected a cross in 1605, 
a granite cross, cut at the Booth Bros. & Hurricane Islan,d Granite Co. , and 
presented by the Company, was set up in 1905 by Albert J. Rawley, W. E. 
Sherer, Ernest Rawley, John Matthews, Edward Fuller and Charles Watts. 



44 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

"great river". Up this river he passed some distance, moving 
probably with the tide, and falling back to the mouth of the river 
with the tide. In the middle of the next forenoon he returned to 
Pentecost harbor, where he aroused the enthusiasm of his asso- 
ciates with the announcement of the discovery he had made. 

A week and more were spent among the islands and along the 
coast in added explorations. During this time friendly relations 
were established with the Indians, who, not long after the arrival 
of the Archangel in Pentecost harbor, came hither from the main- 
land in their birch-bark canoes, attracted by the presence of the 
strange vessel with its strange visitors. On their first approach 
the Indians were cautious ; ' 'but when' ' , says Rosier, ' 'we showed 
them knives and their use, by cutting of sticks, and other trifles 
as combs and glasses, they came close aboard our ship as desirous 
to entertain our friendship". Upon added acquaintance, trade 
relations followed ; and Rosier records interesting incidents con- 
nected with the same, as well as much information concerning the 
manners and customs of the natives. But suspicions of treachery 
on the part of the Indians were at length awakened, and these 
suspicions, as Rosier records, were made the occasion of kidnap- 
ping five of the number. 1 Of course such an act brought to an end 
previous friendly relations. Doubtless Waymouth and his com- 
panions had little ground for suspicions of treachery on the part 
of the Indians. Indeed, this may be inferred from the Relation, 
inasmuch as Rosier says the seizure was "a matter of great impor- 
tance for the full accomplishment of our voyage". In other 
words, it was a part of the voyagers' plan, based on the thought 
that from these natives, after they had learned the English lan- 
guage, they could secure desired information concerning their 
people, rulers, mode of government, etc. 

1 The Archangel was the vessel the Indian Anasou reported to de Monts 
as already mentioned; but his statement that five Indians had been killed 
was erroneous. Rosier gives the names of the captured Indians as follows: 
"Tahanedo, a Sagamo or Commander, Amoret, Skicowaros and Maneddo, 
Gentlemen and Saffacomoit, a servant". 



waymouth's voyage. 45 

Then, on June 11, with a favoring breeze and tide, Way- 
mouth brought the Archangel into the river he had discov- 
ered in his shallop. In glowing words, Rosier gives expression 
to the thoughts and feelings of the whole company as in their 
progress up the river they viewed from the high deck of the Arch- 
angel the land on either side. They noted its pleasant fertility; 
looking into its many "gallant coves" 1 on the right and on the 
left, they beheld the numerous excellent places for docking and 
repairing ships; and again and again the possibilities which the 
scene everywhere suggested deeply stirred and thrilled them. 
Many of the company had been travelers in various countries and 
on the most famous rivers ; yet, says Rosier, ' 'they affirmed them 
not comparable to this they now beheld". Some who had been 
with Sir Walter Ralegh in his voyage to Guiana in 1595, and had 
sailed up the "Orenoque", were raised to loftier enthusiasm here. 
Others, who were familiar with the Seine and L,oire, "great and 
goodly rivers", found in this river of the new world features that 
were unequalled in these renowned, historic rivers of Europe. "I 
will not prefer it before bur river of Thames", wrote Rosier, "be- 
cause it is England's richest treasure; but we all did wish those 
excellent harbors, good deeps in a continual convenient breadth and 
small tide gates, to be as well therein for our country's good, as 
we found them here (beyond our hopes) in certain, for those to 
whom it shall please God to grant this land for habitation; which 
if it had, with the other inseparable adherent commodities here to 
be found, then I would boldly affirm it to be the most rich, beauti- 
ful, large and secure harboring river that the world affordeth." 

This is the language of contagious enthusiasm and easy exag- 
geration, yet one passing up the St. George's river at high water 
on a beautiful day in May or June must be unresponsive to nature 
in her loveliest moods if not in sympathy with Waymouth and his 
associates, — their hearts thrilled with an ecstasy of delight as they 

1 These coves are characteristic features of the St. George's river. The 
U. S. Coast Survey Chart mentions Deep cove, Gay cove, Turkey cove, 
Maple Juice cove, Otis cove, Watt's cove, Guttler's cove, Broad cove and 
Hyler's cove. 



46 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

looked out upon the many objects of pleasing interest which their 
eyes everywhere beheld. 

By some, the river which Waymouth discovered and ascended 
has been identified with the Penobscot, by others with the Kenne- 
bec, and by still others with the St. Georges river. But both the 
Penobscot and the Kennebec fail to meet requirements for iden- 
tification which Rosier' s Relation very plainly presents. The 
breadth and depth of the river, the character of the bottom, and 
especially the ' 'very many gallant coves" on either side, correspond 
only to marked features of the St. George's river. Moreover, 
the direction of the river "as it runneth up into the main", is, as 
Rosier says, "toward the great mountains". All the way up the 
St. George's river the Union and Camden mountains are in full 
view. What mountains will one have in front of him as he sails 
up the Kennebec or the Penobscot P 1 

Waymouth seems to have anchored the Archangel near the 
present ruins of Fort St. George, on the eastern bank of the river. 
The next day, in his "light- horseman", with seventeen of his 
men, he proceeded up the river to the "Codde", or bay, at the 
point where the river trends westward, by the site of Thomaston. 
Here the explorers landed and ten of the party marched up into 
the country toward the mountains back in the main, which they 

1 Captain J. F. Williams, of the U. S. Revenue Service, in his examina- 
tions of the coast of Maine in 1797, with reference to Waymouth' s discoveries 
in 1605, identified Pentecost harbor with St. George's island harbor; but the 
great river of Rosier's Relation, he identified with the Penobscot river. 
Williamson, in his History of the State of Maine, and others adopted the 
same view. So did Bancroft in the first edition of his History of the United 
States. In preparing his edition of 1883, after re-studying the subject, he 
abandoned this view, and adopted the view of George Prince, of Bath, that 
the river Waymouth discovered and ascended was the St. George's river. 
The Kennebec theory was advocated by John McKeen, Esq., of Brunswick, 
in 1857, in a paper read before the Maine Historical Society, and was followed 
by R. K. Sewall, Esq., in his Ancient Dominions . For many years, however, 
there has been no advocacy of the Penobscot or Kennebec theories that 
requires notice. A very full review of the literature of Waymouth's dis- 
covery will be found in Rosier's Relation of Waymouth' s Voyage to the Coast 
of Maine, 1605, 39-77. Gorges Society, 1887. 



waymouth's VOYAGE. 47 

first descried on approaching the land. These mountains, as 
Rosier says, seemed at the outset only a league away ; but after 
they had gone some distance, finding the weather "parching hot" 
and all being "weary of so tedious and laborsome a travel", Way- 
mouth gave the order to face about, and the party returned to the 
boat and then to the ship. 

On the following day the work of exploration was continued by 
an examination of that part of the river not previously visited, a 
distance estimated by Rosier as twenty miles. The "beauty and 
goodness" of the land Rosier mentions with much enthusiasm; 
also the fact that on the return, at that part of the river which 
trends westward (as is the case of the St. George's river at 
Thomaston), a cross was erected, 1 an indication of a claim to 
English discovery and possession like the cross set up at St. 
George's harbor. On the Simancas map are indicated such 
marked features of the landfall of our Maine coast as the Union 
and Camden mountains. A single mountain, west of the Kenne- 
bec, may be intended to represent Mount Washington as seen 
from the waters near Small Point. But of special interest in con- 
nection with Waymouth's voyage and discovery is the fact that 
on this map of 1610 the St. George's river, under its Indian name 
Tahanock, is delineated with its characteristic features ; while at 
the very point where Waymouth erected a cross, according to 
Rosier, is the mark of a cross. What is this mark but the indi- 
cation of the cross which Waymouth set up at this place, and 
which he entered upon his "perfect geographical map" — the map 
made at this time and mentioned by Rosier in his Relation f 
Strong testimony in confirmation of this identification is furnished 
in the fact that on this map of 1610, Monhegan is designated, "I 

1 Referring to the erection of the cross at this point Rosier says: "For 
this (by the way) we diligently observed, that in no place, either about the 
islands, or up in the main, or alongst the river, we could discern any token 
or sign, that ever any Christian had been before; of which either by cutting 
wood, digging for water, or setting up crosses (a thing never omitted by any 
Christian travelers) we should have perceived some mention left." True 
Relation, Gorges Society, 145. 



48 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

St. George." This is the name given to Monhegan by Way- 
mouth and his associates. "The first island we fell with", says 
Rosier, "was named by us St. George's island", a name which 
later was transferred to the group of islands nearer to the main- 
land. 

From this further exploration of the river, and this erection of 
a cross in the interest of the country from which they came, Way- 
mouth and his men returned to the Archangel. The object of the 
expedition, in a degree beyond their strongest hopes, had now 
been accomplished. They had discovered a bold coast, an "excel- 
lent and secure harbor for as many ships as any nation professing 
Christ is able to set forth to sea", a river which the "all-creating 
God" had made a highway over which the great riches of the 
land might easily and safely be borne, a land whose invaluable 
riches the Indians could "neither discern, use, nor rightly 
esteem' ' ; and it was fitting that without further delay the return 
to England should be made in order speedily to report to "the 
honorable setters forth" the success of the expedition which had 
for its ultimate end "a public good and true zeal of promulgating 
God's Holy Church by planting Christianity". The Archangel, 
accordingly, now dropped down the river to its mouth, and then 
to Pentecost harbor, where water was taken on board ; and on the 
sixteenth of June, the wind being fair, and all preparations hav- 
ing been completed, Waymouth and his companions set sail. 1 

Over summer seas and full of the joy which worthy achieve- 
ment always awakens, establishing on their way confidential rela- 
tions with their Indian captives, the voyagers returned homeward, 
anchoring the Archangel in Dartmouth Haven on July 18. 
Rosier 's Relation of the voyage ends here. We are not told 
with what welcome Waymouth and his fellow explorers were 
received, or upon whose ears the story of their adventures first 

1 The Maine Historical Society celebrated the tercentenary of Waymouth's 
voyage by services at Thomaston and St. George's harbor July, 1905. For 
a report of the proceedings see Me. Hist. Society 's Coll., Series III, 2, 
152-204. 




> 2 



waymouth's voyage. 49 

fell. But it requires no stretch of the imagination to bring before 
us the scene as on that Thursday afternoon, about four o'clock, 
the Archangel came to her anchorage, and the members of the 
expedition were surrounded by eager questioners. Heroes they all 
were, but of what special, wondering interest were the five Indians 
whom Waymouth had brought with him as specimens of the 
inhabitants of the new world ! It was a thrilling narrative that 
was told, first on the deck of the Archangel, and later in the 
lounging places of the town where the sailors mingled with a 
crowd ready to catch any word that might fall from their lips. 

How long the Archangel remained in Dartmouth Haven was 
not recorded ; and it seems probable that Rosier, the historian of 
the expedition, leaving the vessel at Dartmouth Haven, hurried 
to Iyondon to place before the promoters of the voyage the tidings 
which they so eagerly awaited. According to Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges, Waymouth brought the Archangel into the harbor of 
Plymouth, where Gorges was in command of the fort. This was 
after the arrival at Dartmouth Haven, for Rosier tells us that 
Dartmouth Haven was the first "harbor in England" entered by 
Waymouth and his fellow voyagers on their return. 

While the Archangel was in Plymouth harbor, Waymouth deliv- 
ered into the care of Sir Ferdinando Gorges three of the Indians 
seized in Pentecost harbor. 1 Gorges regarded the seizure of these 
Indians as a matter of prime importance in connection with new- 
world colonization schemes. In his Brief e Narration, referring 
to the Indians who came into his possession at this time, he 
says, "This accident must be acknowledged the means under God 

1 Gorges (Baxter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Prince Society, II, 8) says the 
names of the three he received were Manida, Skettwarroes and Tasquantam. 
Manida is evidently the Maneddo of Rosier. Tasquantum is the name of 
an Indian captured by Thomas Hunt, master of a vessel in Capt. John 
Smith's voyage of 1614, and Gorges is in error in including his name here. 
In his Briefe Narration Gorges mentions one of these Indians under the 
name Dehamda. Evidently he is the same as the one called by Rosier 
Tahanedo, also known as Nahanada. The other two Indians seized at Pen- 
tecost harbor were assigned, it is supposed, to Sir John Popham. 



50 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

of putting on foot and giving life to all our plantations". With 
ever deepening interest Gorges listened to the answers these 
Indians gave to his eager questionings. "The longer I conversed 
with them," he says, "the better hope they gave me of those 
parts where they did inhabit, as proper for our uses ; especially 
when I found what goodly rivers, stately islands and safe harbors 
those parts abounded with, being the special marks I levelled at, 
as the only want our nation met with in all their navigations along 
that coast. And having kept them full three years, I made them 
able to set me down what great rivers ran up into the land, what 
men of note were seated on them, what power they were of, how 
allied, what enemies they had and the like." 

There is no record of Waymouth's return to L,ondon and of his 
interview with the promoters of the expedition. Arundell had 
been elevated to the peerage, and only a month after the return of 
the Archangel he was appointed colonel of an English regiment 
raised for service in Holland. It is probable, therefore, that he 
was henceforth engaged in other enterprises than those on this 
side of the sea. The Earl of Southampton, however, continued 
his interest in American colonization, but in connection with the 
Iyondon Company of Virginia. In that company's second char- 
ter his name stands next to those of the high officers of state ; and 
he remained at the head of its governing board until the second 
charter was taken away. So far as English colonization on the 
Maine coast was concerned, however, the loss of influence of men 
of such prominence was more than made good by the increased 
active interest of Sir John Popham. His vigorous personality, 
and commanding position as chief justice of England, made him 
forceful in any undertaking. Information concerning Way- 
mouth's voyage probably came to him from Waymouth himself; 
also from Rosier' s Relation, which was published in I^ondon 
soon after the return of the Archangel. Moreover two of Way- 
mouth's Indians came into his possession, and from them he must 
have received information that could hardly have failed to increase 
and deepen his interest in the country from which these Indians 



waymouth's voyage. 51 

came. Doubtless Gorges, also, intensified this awakening interest 
manifested by the chief justice ; and the mind of Sir John Pop- 
ham was soon busy with plans for taking possession of the terri- 
tory thus open to English occupation and trade relations. This, 
however, he would have undertaken and carried forward under 
royal authority. His plans as they ripened involved the forma- 
tion of colonies by chartered companies under license from the 
crown. Plainly in matters, pertaining to new- world enterprises 
the chief justice saw more clearly the demands of the future than 
did his contemporaries. 



CHAPTER V. 
Added Endeavors and Explorations. 

IN the added attention given to English colonization as the 
result of Waymouth's successful expedition, there was a 
stirring of private interests as well as of those of a public 
nature. Before Popham and the men in agreement with him had 
received the royal charter for which they asked, and which gave 
them authority to take possession of the country between the 
thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, thus shut- 
ting out private enterprise, certain merchants of Plymouth, 
William Parker, Thomas L,ove, Came and William Mor- 
gan, had entered into an agreement with Captain George 
Waymouth "to carry them with their shipping, and provisions" 
to Virginia, ' 'there to fish, traffic, and to do what else shall be 
fitting for a merchant voyage' ' . These Plymouth merchants lost 
no time in their effort thus to seize the opportunity for securing 
profitable returns in a business venture. For some reason, how- 
ever, this agreement was almost immediately annulled, evidently 
because of another and more liberal arrangement on the part of 
Waymouth; for October 30, 1605, he entered into a formal agree- 
ment with Sir John Zouche, of Codnor, in Derbyshire, "for and 
concerning a voyage intended to be made unto the land commonly 
called by the name of Virginia upon the continent of America. ' ' 1 
On the part of Sir John, it was agreed that at his own cost he 
should set forth two ships fitted and furnished with "all necessa- 
ries of victual, provision, munition, and two hundred able and 
sufficient men ; that is to say, of such trades and arts as are fitting 
for a plantation and colony, before the last day of April next." 
Sir John also agreed to pay to Captain Waymouth within twenty- 

1 This agreement will be found in Alexander Brown's Genesis of the United 
States, I, 33-35. 



ADDED ENDEAVORS AND EXPLORATIONS. 53 

one days a hundred pounds ' 'lawful English money in 

consideration of his 'travell' and pains to be taken in and about 
the said voyage and for his own charge defraying". Sir John 
furthermore agreed to allow the merchants of Plymouth, whose 
contract with Captain Waymouth had just been annulled, liberty 
"to make their trade for what commodities soever without any 
hindrance or disturbance of his part, or any of his followers under 
his command, for the space of one whole year now next coming, 
and not after". It was also agreed that Sir John Zouche, "being 
Chief Commander' ' , should give to Waymouth ' 'the next place of 
command under himself as well at sea as at land". 

Manifestly the purpose that lay at the foundation of this agree- 
ment was the English occupation and possession of that part of 
the American coast which Waymouth had visited and explored. 
How this territory was to be appropriated is indicated in the clos- 
ing paragraph of the agreement on the part of Sir John, which 
was as follows: "item, if it so please God to prosper and bless 
the said intended voyage and the actions of the same, that thereby 
the land aforesaid shall be inhabited with our English nation, and 
according to 'Polliticque' estate of Government proportion of land 
be alloted to such as shall be transported thither to inhabit ; that 
then, after the said Sir John Zouche shall have made his choice 
and assumed into his possession in manner of inheritance such 
quantity of land as he, the said Sir John, shall think good ; then 
he, the said Captain George Waymouth and his assigns, shall and 
may make his or their next choice of land for his or their posses- 
sion and plantation ; to hold the same in tenure of him, the said 
Sir John, as %ord Paramount'; which said land so by the said 
Captain Waymouth to be chosen shall descend to his heirs or 
assigns, or shall be upon reasonable considerations to his or their 
uses employed or disposed." 

On Waymouth 's part the agreement was that with his "best 
endeavor, council and advice", he should aid Sir John in the fit- 
ting out of the expedition ; that he should be ready to go with 
him in the voyage "at such time as is limited or before, unless 



54 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE). 

hindered by sickness or other such visitation"; that on the arrival 
of the expedition he should assist in the planting of the colony, 
work of fortification, and whatever else should be thought fitting 
by Sir John; and finally that he should not aid, "by person or 
direction to any other in or for the said pretended land or voyage 
without the consent or allowance of the said Sir John". One of 
the witnesses to this agreement was James Rosier, who wrote the 
Relation of Waymouth's voyage. 

Two days after the signing of this agreement, the Guy Fawkes 
gunpowder plot, which was to have been consummated on the 
assembling of Parliament, November 5, was made known to King 
James. The arrest, trial and execution of those connected with 
the plot followed, and for the time attracted public attention to 
such an extent that the plans and purposes of Sir John Zouche 
and Captain Waymouth could have received little attention. 1 

But that which of itself was sufficient to bring to naught the 
agreement between the two was the royal charter 2 granted on 
April 10, 1606, to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard 
Hakluyt, Thomas Hanham, 8 Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, 
George Popham and others, incorporating two companies for the 
purpose of promoting English colonization "in that part of Amer- 
ica commonly called 'Virginia' ". This charter, prepared in its 
first draft by Sir John Popham as is supposed, was granted on 
petition ; but the petition has not come down to us, and its date 
and signers are unknown. As some time would be required for 
the work of drawing up the charter, as well as for its considera- 
tion by the various officers of the crown to whom it was submitted 
for examination, the petition was probably presented to the King 

1 Sir John Zouche, notwithstanding his present failure, did not lose his inter- 
est in English enterprises in the new world. In 1631, he received an appoint- 
ment on "the commission for the better plantation of Virginia", and in 1634 
he went to Virginia to visit his son and daughter, who were living there". 

2 Genesis of the United States , II, 46-63. 

3 The h in the name was adopted from the time of Sir John Hanham, old- 
est son of Thomas and Penelope (Popham) Hanam, and brother of Captain 
Thomas Hanham. 



ADDED ENDEAVORS AND EXPLORATIONS. 55 

as early as the last quarter of 1605. The petition was for the ter- 
ritory "situate, lying and being all along the seacoast" between 
the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, "and in 
the mainland between, together with the islands thereunto adja- 
cent, or within one hundred miles of the coast thereof". The 
petitioners asked to be divided into two colonies or companies, the 
one, consisting of certain knights, gentlemen, merchants and other 
adventurers of London and vicinity, who wished to establish their 
plantation in some fit place between the thirty-fourth and fortieth 
degrees of north latitude, was generally known as the London 
Company; the other, consisting of sundry knights, gentlemen, 
merchants and other adventurers of Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth and 
other places, who wished to establish their plantation in some fit 
place between the thirty-eighth and forty-fifth degrees of north 
latitude, was generally known as the Plymouth Company. In 
the charter, the first colony was granted the territory between the 
thirty-fourth and forty-first degrees, also fifty miles south of this 
location, while to the second colony was granted the territory 
between the thirty-eighth and forty-fifth degrees, also fifty miles 
farther north. This overlapping of limits in grants of territory 
in the new world was not a matter of unfrequent occurrence, as 
an examination of later grants shows. In the charter, however, 
this wholesome provision was added, "That the plantation and 
habitation of such of the said colonies, as shall last plant them- 
selves as aforesaid, shall not be made within one hundred like 
English miles of the other of them, that first began to make their 
plantation as aforesaid." Furthermore, no others of the King's 
subjects were permitted to "plant or inhabit behind or on the 
backside of them, without the express license or consent of the 
council of the colony, thereunto in writing first had and 
obtained". 

Although Sir John Popham's name does not occur in the char- 
ter, it is well known that he was one of the most active of those 
engaged in the movement for obtaining it. Evidently he saw 
very clearly the importance of government control in opening to 



56 the; beginnings op colonial MAINE). 

English colonization the vast territory of the new world, only- 
glimpses of which had been obtained by the expeditions of Ralegh 
in the south, and those of Gosnold, Pring and Way mouth in the 
north. Private plantations had not been successful, and Sir John 
Popham, and those who agreed with him, had good reasons for 
their belief that public plantations had the best prospect of suc- 
cess. The Popham idea prevailed, and brought to an end private 
enterprises on the part of English adventurers like Sir John 
Zouche, who were ready to seize and to hold as much of Ameri- 
can territory as they could secure. 

An expedition fitted out under this charter for the establish- 
ment of the "first colony in Virginia", sailed from L,ondon in 
three vessels December 20, 1606, with Captain Christopher New- 
port as commander of the voyage, and Captain Bartholomew Gos- 
nold as vice-admiral. But Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Sir John Pop- 
ham and those who were interested in the establishment of a col- 
ony in the territory discovered by Waymouth evidently deemed it 
a wiser course to engage in added exploration before colonization. 
Gorges seems to have been the inspiring spirit in this movement. 
A vessel, the Richard of Plymouth, was secured for the voyage, 
and under the command of Henry Challons as captain, with 
Nicholas Hine as master and John Stoneman as pilot, the Richard 
sailed from Plymouth harbor, August 12, 1606. x The vessel was 
a small one, registering only fifty-five tons or thereabouts. In it 
were twenty-nine Englishmen and two of the five Indians cap- 

1 An account of Challons' voyage, first printed in Purchas's Pilgrimes 
IV, 1832-1837, was reprinted in Brown's Genesis of the United States, I, 
127-139. Another account entitled The Relation of Daniel Tucker Mer- 
chant being employed by divers adventurers of Plymouth to go as factor of a 
ship bound for Florida written by himself the 4th day of February A 1606, 
has a place among the Cecil Papers at Hatfield House. It was enclosed in a 
letter, sent at the time to Cecil by Gorges, and is included in the documents 
printed in the third volume of Baxter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Prov- 
ince of Maine, published by the Prince Society, 1890, III, 129-132. In the 
above, the writer has followed Stoneman's more extended, and apparently 
more carefully prepared, narrative, which in a few particulars differs from 
that by Tucker. 



ADDED ENDEAVORS AND EXPLORATIONS. 57 

tured by Waymouth, namely "Maneddo and Assacomoit" , or, as 
recorded by Rosier in his Relation, "Maneddo and Saffacomoit" . 

Why Waymouth was not placed in command of the Richard does 
not appear in the accounts of the voyage that have come down to 
us. That he was ready to undertake such an expedition is made 
evident by the agreement into which he entered with Sir John 
Zouche. In all probability, his agreement to serve Sir John, in his 
endeavor to turn Waymouth's discoveries to personal advantage, 
brought him into disfavor with those who were interested in the 
northern colony. 

Gorges says he gave Challons instruction to take a northerly 
course as high as the latitude of Cape Breton until the main land 
was sighted, and that then he was to sail southward, following the 
coast until, from the Indians who were with him, he was told that 
he had reached that part of the American coast "they were 
assigned unto". Challons, on the contrary, paid no attention to 
his instructions, and, following the course of earlier voyagers gen- 
erally, made the Canary islands the starting point of his expedi- 
tion. This course could not have been taken because of contrary 
winds, inasmuch as Stoneman, in his narrative of the voyage, 
makes no mention of such winds until after the Canary islands 
were reached. But leaving those islands, contrary winds baffled 
them. For six weeks they were driven in a southerly direction, 
and the voyagers found themselves at the end of that time at the 
island of Saint I,ucia, one of the L,esser Antilles, twenty-nine 
degrees out of their way. After a delay of three days at that port 
the Richard was started northward. But there was further delay 
at Porto Rico, where "the captain went ashore for the recovery 
of his health, while the company took in water and such other 
provisions as they had present use of, expending some time there, 
hunting after such things as best pleased themselves' ' . At length, 
leaving Porto Rico and proceeding northward one hundred and 
eighty leagues, Challons encountered a severe storm which con- 
tinued ten days. At its close, "in a thick fog of mist and rain", 
he found himself surrounded by eight Spanish ships, which bore 



58 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE . 

down upon the Richard and compelled her surrender. Among the 
wounded in Challons' company was Assacomoit, 1 one of the two 
Indians the Richard was bearing homeward. Challons and his 
men, including the Indians, were taken to Spain as captives. 
Some of them at length were liberated, some escaped from prison, 
and others sickened and died. 2 Gorges says, "The affliction of 
the captain and his company put the I,ord Chief Justice Popham 
to charge, and myself to trouble in procuring their liberties, which 
was not suddenly obtained' ' . So ended Challons' ill-fated expedi- 
tion from which Gorges had expected so much. 8 

Another vessel, fitted out by Sir John Popham for the purpose 
of co-operating with the Richard in the exploration of the coast 
visited by Waymouth, left England not long after Challons' 
departure. Of this vessel Thomas Hanham 4 was commander, and 

1 Gorges, in his Brief e Narration, at the opening of Chapter XII, says he 
"recovered Assacomoit" from Spanish captivity. 

2 Thayer, The Sagadahoc Colony, page 11, says: "Stoneman was questioned 
closely respecting the Virginia coast and offered large wages to draw maps. 
His sturdy loyal refusal remanded him to prison, and when later enlarged on 
parole he learned he was in danger of the rack to extort the desired infor- 
mation, he made escape, and by the way of Lisbon reached Cornwall, 
November 24, 1607; sixteen months after embarkation at Plymouth." Chal- 
lons was not released until the following May. 

3 Gorges, in a letter to Challons, dated Plymouth, March 13, 1607, wrote: 
"I rest satisfied for your part of the proceedinge of the voyage". 

4 Little has come down to us concerning this associate with Pring in the 
voyage of 1606. As Sir John Popham 's oldest daughter Penelope married a 
Thomas Hanham, Thayer (.Sagadahoc Colony, 145) inclines to the view that 
the chief justice "selected his trusty son-in-law to be the controlling agent" 
in the expedition. Alexander Brown thought it probable that the Hanham 
of Pring 's voyage was a son of the same name {Genesis of the United States, 
II, 909). It is now known that such was the fact, as the Thomas Hanham 
who married Penelope Popham died August 30, 1593 {History and Anti- 
quities of the County of Dorset, III, 230, 231), and so could not have accom- 
panied Pring to the American coast in 1606. From the same source it is 
learned that Thomas Hanham, who died in 1593, had a son, Thomas Hanham, 
of Wimborne Minster, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Robert 
Broughton, of County Somerset. To him the Dorset History (III, 232) makes 
reference as follows: "Thomas Hanham, Esq., second son of Thomas last 
mentioned, was one of the members of the Long Parliament that attended 



ADDED ENDEAVORS AND EXPLORATIONS. 59 

Martin Pring, who commanded the expedition of 1603, was mas- 
ter. Gorges makes no mention of Hanham in his reference to the 
voyage, and it is evident that his position was a nominal one as a 
representative of Sir John Popham, the chief promoter of the 
expedition. 

Unfortunately we have no record of this voyage. That a Rela- 
tion was prepared by Hanham is learned from Purchas, 1 who 
mentions such a narrative. Purchas had a copy of it about the 
year 1624. Possibly it may have come into his possession with 
the Hakluyt papers, which were placed in his hands after Hak- 
luyt's death. Why he did not publish the record in his Pilgrimes, 
it is difficult to conjecture on account of the significance of the 
voyage from its connection with the fitting out of the Popham 
colony. Purchas might well have omitted many another narrative 
in order to give place to this. 

Although we have no record of the date of Pring 's departure for 

the King at Oxford, and subscribed the letter for peace to the Earl of Essex. 

In a grant of land in North America made to him (the reference is to 

the charter of April 10, 1606, authorizing two companies for colonizing North 
America) with Lord Chief Justice Popham, Sir Thomas Gorges, etc., he is 
styled Thomas Hanham, Esq., and also Captain Hanham. He was buried in 
Wimborne Minster, where see his monument." Unfortunately (probably 
because of a comparatively recent restoration of the edifice), this memorial of 
Captain Hanham is no longer to be seen. The 1868 edition of the Dorset 
History, however, contains the inscription of the memorial as printed in an 
earlier edition, with the statement that formerly, at the upper end of the south 
aisle of the Minster, was an altar tomb of gray marble. The inscription fol- 
lows : "Here lyeth the body of Thomas Hanham, late of Dean's Court, Eng., 
second son of Thomas Hanham Sergeant at Law and of Penelope his wife, 
the daughter of Sir John Popham, Kt., Lord Chief Justice of England, who 
departed this life the first day of August in the 76th year of his age, Anno 
D. Ni, 1652". Accordingly, Captain Thomas Hanham was about thirty years 
of age at the time of the voyage of 1606. The second son of Captain Thomas 
Hanham, and also named Thomas Hanham, died June 17, 1650. A mural 
monument of white marble, erected by Margaret "his loving and sad widow", 
and containing "his portraiture and her own, intending if God so please to 
be interred by him" [History, III, 218), has come down to us and is now at 
the west end of the north aisle of the nave of Wimborne Minster. 
1 Pilgrimes, Ed. of 1624, IV, 1837. 



60 the beginnings of colonial mains. 

the coast of Maine, Gorges says 1 that Pring 's vessel followed the 
Richard "within two months". Probably Pring sailed from 
Bristol, and the voyage, as may be inferred from Challons' instruc- 
tions, and what Gorges says concerning it, was a direct one to the 
American coast. St. George's harbor, the Pentecost harbor of 
Waymouth's anchorage in 1605, was doubtless the place of 
rendezvous agreed upon by Challons and Pring. Not to meet 
Challons there, or in the vicinity, was a matter of surprise and dis- 
appointment to those who followed him and expected to find the 
work of added exploration already well advanced. There may 
have been some little loss of time in searching for the co-operating 
vessel, but the favorable season for accomplishing satisfactory 
work was drawing to a close, and Hanham and Pring soon entered 
upon the task assigned to them. The coast was carefully exam- 
ined, 2 and the explorations made by Waymouth the year before 
were considerably extended. Especially was attention given to 
that part of the coast lying west of the territory of Waymouth's 
discoveries. The Sagadahoc, now the Kennebec, was found to be 
a larger and more important river than that which evoked so much 
admiration from the explorers on the Archangel. It also afforded 
much larger trade facilities with the Indians and on this account 
offered advantages for a settlement that ought not to be over- 
looked. Accordingly, the location of the river and directions with 
reference to its entrance were carefully noted. Indeed all facts 
necessary in planning for the establishment of a colony in the 
explored territory were sought for and made available for use on 
the vessel's return. 

Gorges implies that Pring was obliged to cut short his work of 
exploration by the approach of winter, and such seems to have 
been the fact. The vessel that bore the expedition hither left 
England about the first of October, and if ten weeks are allowed 

1 Letter to Challons, March 13, 1607. 

2 In this work Hanham and Pring had the assistance of Dehamda (Rosier's 
Tahanedo), one of Waymouth's captured Indians, whom they brought with 
them and left in the country on their return. 



ADDED ENDEAVORS AND EXPLORATIONS. 61 

for the voyage and subsequent examination of the coast, Hanham 
and Pring could not have set out on their return much before the 
close of the year. Their arrival in England was on an unknown 
date. It was a winter voyage, and there were doubtless storms 
and delays. But port was at length reached — Bristol probably — 
and Popham and those who were interested in the voyage were at 
once made acquainted with its encouraging results. 

Gorges in his reference to it 1 makes mention of Pring' s "perfect 
discovery of all those rivers and harbors", which his report 
described ; and he calls it ''the most exact discovery" of the coast 
that had come into his hands. While he makes no mention of 
Hanham 's connection with the expedition, he pays high tribute to 
Pring, whose services had proved so acceptable, and had achieved 
success so greatly desired. "His relation of the same", adds 
Gorges, "wrought such an impression in the I^ord Chief Justice 
and us all that were his associates, that notwithstanding our first 
disaster we set up our resolutions to follow it with effect." 2 

1 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 11 . 

2 Pring' s later service was largely connected with the East Indies. In 
1617, he was general of the East India fleet. In 1622, the Quarter Court 
of the Virginia Company made Captain Martin Pring a freeman of the 
company and gave him two shares of land in Virginia. Brown {Genesis of 
the United States, II, 973) considers it probable that Pring ' 'died on his voy- 
age to Virginia, or very soon after his return to England", probably in 1626, 
at the age of 46. His monument in St. Stephen's Church, Bristol, England, 
bears witness to the high esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens. 
The following is the inscription which is recorded on the memorial tablet : 

To the Pious Memorie of Martin Pringe, Merchaunt, Sometyme Generall to 
the East Indies, and one of ye Fraternity of the Trinity House. 
The living worth of this dead man was such 
That this fayr Touch can give you but a Touch 
Of his admired guifts ; Theise quarter'd Arts, 
Enrich 'd his knowledge and yespheare imparts; 
His heart's true embleme where pure thoughts did move, 
By a most sacred Influence from above. 
Prudence and Fortitude are topp this toombe, 
Which in brave Pringe took up ye chief est roome; 
Hope, Time supporters showe that he did clyme 
The highest pitch of Hope though not of Tyme. 



62 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

His painefull, skillfull travayles reacht as farre 

As from the Artick to th' Antartick starre; 

He made himself A Shipp. Religion 

His onely compass, and the truth alone 

His guiding Cynosure: Faith was his sailes, 

His Anchour Hope. A hope that never failes, 

His freighte was Charitie, and his returne 

A fruitful practice. In this fatal urne 

His Shipp' s fayre Bulck is lodg'd, but ye rich ladinge 

Is hous'd in Heaven. A heaven never fadinge. 

Hie terris multum jactatus et undis 
Salutis 1626 

Obit anno 

Aetatis 46 




Pring Memorial, St. Stephen's Church, Bristol 



CHAPTER VI. 

The; Popham Colony. 

The Southern Virginia • Company, as stated in the preceding 
chapter, had already despatched colonists to the new world. 
There also was a movement for a like undertaking on the part of 
the Northern or Plymouth company. Conferences were held by 
the members of the company with others interested in the expan- 
sion of England's territory and trade. With enthusiasm the work 
of organizing the proposed colony was commenced. As this work, 
at least for the most part, was carried forward at Plymouth, 
Gorges, who was in command of the fort at that place, may be 
regarded as most conspicuous in this service, as well as in making 
preparations for the voyage. Difficulties were encountered as the 
work proceeded. A glimpse of these is afforded in a letter 1 which 
the mayor of Plymouth addressed May 10, 1606, to Lord Salis- 
bury, King James' Secretary of State, suggesting some modifica- 
tions of the charter. Sir John Popham, he wrote, had invited the 
co-operation of some of the prominent citizens of Plymouth ; but 
some of the provisions of the charter were objectionable, especially 
the provision that placed the direction of the affairs of the colony 
in the control of a council, the majority of whose members were 
"strangers to us and our proceedings". They accordingly asked 
the prime minister's protection and help. This complaint was 
not sent to Lord Salisbury without the knowledge of Sir Ferdi- 
nando Gorges ; for on the same day Gorges addressed a letter 2 to 
the prime minister, explaining further the position taken by the 
men of Plymouth, who, he wrote, were at first well disposed and 
ready "to be large adventurers' ' , but had now withdrawn their 

1 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 122, 123. 

2 lb., Ill, 123-126. 



64 the; beginnings of colonial maine. 

aid and refused to have anything to do with the work to be under- 
taken. Evidently, Gorges considered this a very undesirable 
situation, and he urged a change in the provisions of the charter 
to which objection had been made, believing that in this way the 
interest of "many worthy and brave spirits" could be secured. 
The complaint of the mayor of Plymouth and his associates was 
laid before L,ord Salisbury by Captain IyOve, the bearer of the let- 
ter. No word concerning the result has been preserved, so far as 
is known. Such, however, was the success of the efforts of the 
chief justice in connection with the fitting out of the Popham 
colony, that harmony of action among those interested in the 
enterprise seems at length to have been reached. 

Two vessels, the Gift of God 1 and the Mary and John 2 — the 
tonnage of both unknown — were secured for transporting the 
colonists and their stores to the selected location of the colony. 
Concerning the number of the colonists, and the manner in which 
they were obtained, there is little information. Gorges makes 
mention of "one hundred landsmen". Probably he does not 
include in this designation "divers gentlemen of note", who are 
said to have accompanied the expedition. Strachey says the Gift 
of God and the Mary and John carried ' 'one hundred and twenty 
for planters". To this number, of course, must be added the 
number of the crews of the two vessels in order to make up the 
full number of persons connected with the enterprise. 

In providing the funds that were necessary for the purpose of 
fitting out and establishing the colony, Sir John Popham doubtless 
had a prominent place. He not only made large contributions 
when calls for money came, but he interested many of his friends 
and acquaintances in the work to which, with so much enthu- 
siasm, he had put his hands. In one way or another the funds 

1 In the Lambeth Palace manuscript the name of this vessel is the "Gift". 
The fuller title is given by Strachey, who calls the vessel a "fly boat", that 
is, a light draught vessel. 

2 Gorges erroneously says there were "three sail of ships". Sir Ferdi- 
nando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 13. 



the; popham colony. 65 

were raised and the expedition was made ready. May 31, 1607, 
was the sailing day. The Gift of God and the Mary and John— 
the former commanded by George Popham 1 and the latter by 
Ralegh Gilbert 2 — lay in the old harbor of Plymouth, now known 
as Sutton's Pool, the same harbor from which the Mayflower 
sailed thirteen years later. Gorges, doubtless, was present at the 
departure of the colonists. Doubtless, too, Sir John Popham was 
there, having laid aside hi-s official robes and left I/mdon in order 
by his presence to give forceful expression to the hopes he enter- 
tained, both for himself and the nation, in establishing an English 
colony in northern Virginia. All Plymouth, too, was there, 
prominent merchants, military and other professional men, fisher- 
men and seamen, all much interested in an enterprise that was 
designed to bring the old and new worlds into close and prosper- . 
ing relations. As the Gift or God and the Mary and John sailed 
out of the harbor, the vessels were saluted by the guns of the fort, 
while from the Hoe the heartfelt benedictions and best wishes of 
a great company followed the colonists until the vessels had dis- 
appeared upon the horizon. 

A brief account of the fortunes of the Popham colony appeared 

1 George Popham was the second son of Edward Popham, and a nephew 
of the chief justice. He was born about 1553-1555, and before his appoint- 
ment in connection with the Popham colony he held the position of "his 
Majesty's customer of the Port of Bridgewater". His name appears in the 
charter for the North and South Virginia colonies in 1606, and he was the 
first president of the colony in North Virginia. 

2 Ralegh Gilbert, a son of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and nephew of Sir Wal- 
ter Ralegh, was also mentioned in the charter of 1606. While the date of 
his birth is unknown, it is supposed that when he joined the Popham colony 
he was not far from thirty years of age. Evidently he was lacking in the 
finer personal qualities of life, and Gorges' portraiture of him (in a letter to 
Secretary Cecil, Baxter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges, III, 158) is not a favorable 
one. Concerning his administration of the affairs of the colony after the 
death of President Popham, we have no information. As Thayer says, it 
"may have been vigilant and wholly satisfactory to the patrons", The Sag- 
adahoc Colony, 32. He was made a member of the Council for New England 
in 1620. 



66 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

in 1614 in Purchas's Pilgrimes. This was followed in 1622 by a 
short statement in A Brief e Relation of the Discovery and Plantation 
of New England 'by the president and council. In 1624, Captain 
John Smith included in his General History of New England a 
brief record of the Popham enterprise. These were the principal 
sources of information concerning the colony until 1849, when the 
Hakluyt Society published William Strachey's Historie of Travaile 
into Virginia Brittania, written about 1616. Evidently the narra- 
tive was based upon sources not in the possession of the earlier 
writers, and Strachey's account of the experiences of the Popham 
colonists was the best available until 1875, when a manuscript, 
once in the possession of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and containing 
a journal, written by one connected with the colony, was discov- 
ered in the library of Lambeth Palace, London. 1 It covers a 
period of about four months, that is, from the departure of the 
expedition from the Lizard, June 1, 1607, to September 26, 1607. 
With this last date the manuscript abruptly closes ; but as 
Strachey, by many evidences which his narrative furnishes, is 
believed to have used this manuscript in preparing his account of 
the Popham colony, his continuation of the story from September 
26 is believed, for the same reason, to have been based upon that 
part of the Lambeth Palace manuscript, which in some way was 
afterward lost and is still lacking. Although in the title of the 
manuscript the name of the author is not mentioned, indications 
in the narrative point almost unmistakably to the conclusion that 
the writer was James Davies, one of Gilbert's officers on the Mary 
and John, and otherwise prominently connected with the colony. 

The narrative of the voyage begins at "the Lizard" 2 on the first 
of June, the day after the vessels sailed out of the harbor of Ply- 
mouth, fifty miles away. Thence both vessels, instead of taking 
the direct westerly course to the American coast, as did Gosnold 

1 This manuscript, known in the Lambeth Palace Library as Ms. No. 806, 
was discovered in 1876 by the Rev. Dr. B. F. De Costa of New York, and 
was first printed from the original manuscript in the Proceedings of the Mass. 
Hist. Society for May, 1880. 

2 At the southwest extremity of the county of Cornwall. 



the; popham colony. 67 

and Pring, followed Waymouth's course in the Archangel, and 
sailed southerly to the Azores islands, which were reached in 
twenty- four days. June 27, at the island of Flores, a landing was 
made for wood and water. Continuing the voyage, Popham and 
Gilbert fell in with two Flemish vessels June 29, and Captain Gil- 
bert, as a token of friendly feeling, invited the captain of one of 
the vessels to come aboard the Mary and John. The invitation 
was accepted, and the Flemish captain was kindly received and 
hospitably entertained. On his departure, the guest cordially 
invited Gilbert and a few others on the Mary and John to accom- 
pany him to his ship, apparently moved thereto by the kindly 
reception he himself had received. To this "earnest entreaty", 
Gilbert and those with him, yielded ; but, to their surprise, on 
reaching the Flemish vessel, they were treated as prisoners, some 
of the party being placed in the "bibows" (bilboes,) and others 
being subjected to "wild and shameful abuses". It happened, 
however, that in the crew of the Flemish vessel were English 
sailors, who, noticing this affront to their countrymen, found 
opportunity to make known to Gilbert their determination to stand 
by him and his companions. When the Flemish captain discov- 
ered this evidence of a threatened uprising on the part of his own 
men, the situation was not pleasing to him. He accordingly 
hastened to release the prisoners, and returned them to their own 
ship to their "no small joy". 1 

Meanwhile, Popham, in the Gift of God, either had not seen or 
failed to answer the signals of distress made by the Mary and 
John. His action is not explained in the narrative, which seems 
to imply unworthy conduct on his part in sailing away without an 
attempt at assistance. 2 The two vessels thus fell apart, and did 

1 The narratives of the voyages of that day furnish abundant illustrations 
of the fact that such discourtesies at sea between representatives of rival 
nations were by no means uncommon. 

2 Thayer {The Sagadahoc Colony, 39, note), says, "Capt. Popham may be 
fairly entitled to the benefit of the doubt if he saw or comprehended the 
signals". It is certainly in favor of this view that no added mention of the 
incident appears in the Relation. 



68 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

not again come together until their arrival on the American coast. 

When this affair with the Flemish ship occurred, the Mary and 
John was ten leagues southwest of Flores. Continuing the voyage 
to the American coast, the vessel reached soundings July 27, in 
latitude 43°, 40', 1 and July 30, land was descried, evidently the 
Nova Scotia coast. Gilbert anchored 2 and landed, but his stay 
was brief, and he proceeded down the coast on his way to the 
appointed rendezvous. August 5, land again was sighted. In the 
narrative there is an outline sketch of the view that was obtained 
by the voyagers in thus approaching the coast — a view of the high 
mountains ' 'in upon the main land near unto the river of Penob- 
scot' ' . Such they knew them to be from the maps of Waymouth 
and Pring in their possession. Both the sketch and the narrative 
make it evident that the Mary and John, in now approaching the 
coast, must have been some distance southeast of the Matinicus 
islands. The mountains were the Camden mountains, noteworthy 
features of the coast to any mariner approaching the land at this 
point. Gilbert and his men now knew that the designated meet- 
ing-place of the vessels, in case of separation, was not far away. 

Proceeding in toward the coast, the Mary and John, her 
entire ship's company alert with interest, came at length to the 
Matinicus islands easily recognizable from the narrative. A sec- 
ond outline sketch of the mountains toward which the Mary and 
John was moving is here inserted in the Lambeth manuscript, 
showing the changed appearance of the mountains, as seen from 
this nearer point of approach. At these islands the vessel's course 
was made "west and west by north" towards three other islands, 
eight leagues from the islands before mentioned. Differences of 

1 Here, sounding, they had ground in eighteen fathoms, and fished with 
such success that they caught about one hundred cod — ' 'very great and large 
fish, bigger and larger fish than that which conies from the bank of New- 
foundland. Here we might have laden our ship in less time than a month". 
Evidently they were on a portion of Sable island bank. 

2 The Relation also makes reference to the fish caught here ; ' 'we took 
great store of cod fishes, the biggest and largest that I ever saw or any man 
in our ship." 



THK POPHAM COLONY. 69 

opinion have found expression as to the three islands to which 
reference is thus made. The record is brief, and it is difficult to 
obtain from it that accurate information which a fuller statement 
would have supplied. But the general direction seems unmistak- 
able. Following down the coast from the Matinicus islands, the 
course of the Mary and John must have been in the direction of 
the St. George's islands. 1 A careful examination of the narrative 
in the light of such facts as are now attainable warrants this state- 
ment. It was ten o'clock at night when an approach to these 
islands was made. ' 'We bore in with one of them" , is the record, 
and the inference is that other islands were near. In fact, in the 
clear light of the morning that followed, the voyagers on the 
Mary and John found themselves "environed" with islands, and 
the narrative adds "near thirty", evidently an estimate. The 
anchorage, therefore, was not at Monhegan, as some have main- 
tained. The Relation excludes any such view. No mariner, 
anchored at Monhegan, would refer to his vessel as "environed" 
with "near thirty islands". On the other hand, if the Mary and 
John, guided by directions derived from the narratives of the 
voyages of Waymouth and Pring, anchored in what is now known 
as St. George's harbor, the mention of environing islands — "near 
thirty" — is in harmony with easily recognized facts as to distance 
and direction. 2 

It should be added, furthermore, that the Relation makes the 
anchorage of the Mary and John not far from the island on which 
Waymouth erected a cross as a token of English possession. The 
statement is, "We here found a cross set up, the which we sup- 
pose was set up by George Wayman". 8 Rosier's narrative of 

1 No other view can be brought into harmony with the plain statement of 
the narrative. 

2 See Thayer's Sagadahoc Colony, 50-52 note, where the facts are presented 
with great clearness and force. 

3 Their finding the cross, which they supposed was erected by George Way- 
mouth two years before, is very significant. Captain Gilbert unquestionably 
had with him a copy of Rosier's Relation, and probably a copy of Waymouth's 
"geographical map''. Hence his readiness in discovering the cross, and his 



70 the; beginnings op colonial maine. 

Waymouth's voyage affords no foundation whatever for the sup- 
position that the cross, which Waymouth erected upon an island 
on the coast of Maine, was erected on Monhegan. His brief visit 
to that island was from his anchorage north of it on his first 
approach to the coast, and was for the purpose of obtaining wood 
and water. On the following day, from that anchorage, he 
brought the Archangel "along to the other islands more adjoining 
to the main, and in the road directly with the mountains" he had 
seen on approaching the coast. The St. George's islands, extend- 
ing in a line nearly north northeast and south southwest for 
about five miles, answer fully to this description, as has already 
been stated. Gilbert and his men were not long in finding the 
cross Waymouth erected on one of these islands, confirming the 
other facts in their possession, that the designated place of ren- 
dezvous had been reached. 

Gilbert's first anchorage, which was made somewhat hastily 
under the circumstances, was not found to be satisfactory, and a 
better one was secured on the following day. While the neces- 
sary examination was in progress, and the Mary and John was 
'standing off a little", a sail was descried at sea, but "standing 
in towards this island", namely the island near which the Mary 
and John had been anchored. Gilbert at once sailed out to meet 
the stranger, and it was soon discovered that the new arrival, as 
hoped for, was Gilbert's consort, the Gift of God. Evidently, 
differences as to the cause of the separation were at once forgot- 
ten ; and in the joy of their "happy meeting" the two vessels 
sailed into the appointed haven, and "there anchored both 
together". 

The language of the Relation is plain, and there is no warrant 
whatever for the view, maintained by some writers before the dis- 
covery of the Lambeth Palace manuscript, that this anchorage was 
at Monhegan. The island near which both vessels anchored was 

identification of it as the one set up by Waymouth. He had brought the 
Mary and John into Pentecost harbor. Thayer {Sagadahoc Colony, 55) is 
evidently correct in his inference that Waymouth's cross was erected on the 
north end of Allen's island. 



THE POPHAM COLONY. 71 

no other than the island in the vicinity of which the Mary and 
John anchored on her arrival on the coast; and this, as has 
already been shown, was not the island of Monhegan, but one of 
the St. George's islands and probably the one on which Waymouth 
set up a cross. If Monhegan had been the place of rendezvous, 
Popham would have sought an anchorage there. On the con- 
trary, he was heading for islands farther in toward the main when 
the Gift of God was sighted from the deck of the Mary and John, 
and thence was led by her into the island harbor, which, evidently 
on the part of both captains, was the predetermined location for 
anchorage on reaching the American coast. 

One of the five Indians captured by Waymouth was included in 
the company on board of the Mary and John. In the I^ambeth 
Palace manuscript he is mentioned as "Skidwarres". Rosier, in 
his Relation, calls him ' 'Skicowaros" . Probably he was one of the 
Indians assigned by Waymouth to Sir John Popham, and doubt- 
less very much was expected from him in matters connected with 
the settlement of the colony, especially in the relation of the colo- 
nists to the Indians. Very naturally Skidwarres, on reaching 
these familiar scenes, was anxious to be set on shore at once, in 
order to join his people from whom he had so long been separated. 
Just as anxious, apparently, was Gilbert to further the wishes of 
Skidwarres, and so, with the first opportunity, to place himself in 
friendly relations with the natives of the country. Accordingly 
at midnight, following the arrival of the Gift of God, Gilbert and 
some of his men, in one of the ships' boats, rowed westward 1 past 
"many gallant islands", and landed Skidwarres, by his direction, 
in a little cove on the mainland, on the east side of the Pemaquid 
peninsula, and evidently at what is now known as New Harbor. 
Then, still guided by Skidwarres, they marched across the penin- 
sula, a distance of "near three miles" to the Indian encampment. 

1 With the two vessels at anchor in St. George's harbor, the direction is 
clearly indicated. Skidwarres was a Pemaquid Indian. From the very place 
where he was captured two years before, he is now returned by Captain Gil- 
bert and his men. 



72 THE BEGINNINGS OF COIyONIAE MAINE. 

The chief of the Indians was none other than Nahanada, 1 also one 
of Way mouth's captives, who had been returned by Hanham and 
Pring the year before ; but though the Indians very naturally were 
inclined at first to hold themselves somewhat aloof, the assuring 
words addressed to them by Skidwarres and Nahanada caused 
them to lay aside their fears, and assurances of mutual friendship 
followed. Gilbert and his men remained at the Indian village 
two hours, and then, accompanied by Skidwarres, they returned 
to the ships in Pentecost harbor. 

The next day was Sunday. Concerning its religious observ- 
ances by the colonists, the Relation contains this record: "Sun- 
day, being the 9th of August, in the morning the most part of our 
whole company of both our ships landed on this island, the which 
we call St. George's island, where the cross standeth, and there 
we heard a sermon delivered unto us by our preacher, giving God 
thanks for our happy meeting and safe arrival into the country, 
and so returned aboard again." The place of this first recorded 
observance of Christian worship in New England is here clearly 
indicated. It was on the island near which Waymouth anchored 
the Archangel after leaving his anchorage north of Monhegan, 
and on which Waymouth 's cross stood. No appeal can be made 
to the fact that this island is called in the narrative "St. George's 
island" — the name given by Waymouth to Monhegan. Its men- 
tion here — the writer being familiar with Rosier's Relation — is 
evidence only to the well-known fact that thus early the name St. 
George had been transferred from Monhegan to the island on 
which Waymouth' s cross was erected, and later was made to 
include the whole group of islands since known as the St. 
George's islands. 

The character of the service is also clearly indicated in the 
Relation. Though the words "sermon" and "preacher" are very 
suggestive of religious conditions in Bngland at that time, and 

1 He was designated by Rosier Tahanedo and was called by him ' 'a chief or 
Commander". Gorges mentions him under the name Dehamda, while in 
the Iyambeth Palace manuscript he is known as Dehanada. 



THK POPHAM COLONY. 73 

may have been due to the writer's habit of expression, it is prob- 
able that the preacher, Rev. Richard Seymour, 1 was a clergyman 
of the Church of England. With such promoters as those most 
interested in the colony — Popham, chief justice of England, and 
Sir Ferdinando Gorges, an ardent royalist and churchman — it is 
not likely that English dissent would furnish religious leadership 
in the undertaking. If there were differences of religious belief 
among the colonists, these were laid aside; and devout hearts 
found abundant occasion in the experiences of the voyage for glad 
expression of thanksgiving and praise. It was certainly a most 
fitting service in connection with an enterprise that meant so much 
both for the old world and the new. 2 

On the following day, August 10, both captains — Popham in 
his shallop with thirty men and Gilbert in his ship's boat with 
twenty men — taking with them Skidwarres, passed round Pema- 
quid point, evidently to avoid the march across the peninsula, and 
visited the Indians at the place where Gilbert had met them two 
days before. As at the previous interview, the establishment of 
kindly relations with the Indians was the purpose of the visit; but 

1 Concerning Rev. Richard Seymour there is no information known to the 
writer aside from his connection with the Popham colony. Bishop Burgess 
(Popham Memorial, Me. Hist. Society, 101-4) suggested that he was con- 
nected with the Popham, Gorges, Gilbert and Ralegh families, but the sug- 
gestion remains a suggestion only. A Richard Seymour matriculated at 
Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1588-9, but a biographical sketch of this Oxon- 
ian makes it clear that he did not become a clergyman, and so was not 
the Richard Seymour of the Popham colony. 

2 In the King's instructions for the government of the colonies occurred 
these words, which Popham evidently had not failed to notice : "We do spe- 
cially ordain, charge and require, the said president and councils, and the 
ministers of the said several colonies respectively, within their several lim- 
its and precincts, that they, with all diligence, care and respect, do provide 
that the true word and service of God and Christian faith be preached, 
planted and used, not only within every of the said several colonies and 
plantations, but also as much as they may amongst the savage people which 
do or shall adjoin unto them, or border upon them, according to the doc- 
trine, rites and religion now professed and established within our realm of 
England". Brown, Genesis of the United States , I, 67, 68. 



74 the beginnings op colonial maine. 

apparently the memory of the natives, who were captured by Way- 
mouth with Skidwarres and Nahanada and had not been returned, 
lingered in the hearts of the members of the tribe, and there was 
an evident lack of cordial feeling. The visitors spent the night 
by themselves on the other side of the Pemaquid river. Better 
relations were not secured on the following day; and the visitors, 
leaving Skidwarres, who now expressed a determination to remain 
with his people, returned to their ships. 

That night the vessels remained at the place of rendezvous. 
But the summer was rapidly passing, and the planting of the col- 
ony was now a matter of pressing interest and importance. 
Accordingly, on the following morning, Wednesday, August 12, 
anchors were weighed, and both vessels, moving out from their 
island harbor into the open sea, were headed westward down the 
coast. Pring's explorations of the preceding year had called 
attention to the river Sagadahoc as a larger and more important 
river than that which Waymouth discovered in 1605, and there- 
fore one upon which a more suitable location for the settlement of 
a colony could be found. It is a clear inference from the Relation 
that before the Gift of God and the Mary and John left England 
it had been decided that the colonists should proceed to the Saga- 
dahoc, and establish themselves there. In accordance with this 
decision, Popham and Gilbert now sailed westward, instead of 
moving in toward the main land and the river of Waymouth' s 
exploration. 

In reaching the sea, the Kennebec river, the ancient Sagadahoc, 
does not present an opening that is discoverable from vessels pass- 
ing along the coast. Popham and Gilbert had been made 
acquainted with this fact, and careful directions for gaining an 
entrance to the river had been placed in their hands. Accordingly, 
when night drew on, in order not to pass too far to the westward 
and so "over shoot" the mouth of the river, both vessels struck 
their sails and thus remained from midnight until morning. With 
the break of day, they were about half a league south of the 



the; popham colony . 75 

"island of Sutquin". 1 The writer of the Relation adds here two 
rude but good drawings of Seguin as seen from different points ; 
and in referring to the island he mentions the fact that the island 
is situated ' 'right before the mouth of the river of Sagadahock' ' . 
Popham and Gilbert, therefore, had an excellent guide to the 
mouth of the river. But Gilbert, in the Mary and John, not con- 
vinced that the island was "Sutquin", continued to stand to the 
westward in .search of it. On the other hand, Popham, in the 
Gift of God, sending his shallop landward from the island which 
he held to be the "Sutquin" of his directions, found the mouth of 
the Sagadahoc, and at the close of the day brought his vessel 
safely into the river and anchored. 

That night a heavy storm from the south broke upon the Mary 
and John, and with difficulty the vessel was rescued from many 
perils upon a lee shore ; but at length a refuge was found under 
the shelter of two islands. 2 Here Gilbert remained until Saturday, 
August 15, when the storm having spent itself, he headed his ves- 
sel again for "Sutquin". On his return, however, by reason of 
an offshore wind, he was unable to bring the vessel into the river. 
On the following day, Popham in his shallop came to the assist- 
ance of his consort, and before noon the Mary and John found 
anchorage in the Sagadahoc alongside of the Gift of God. 

The location of the colony was now the matter of first import- 
ance with the colonists, and on the following day, August 17, 
Popham in his shallop with thirty others and Gilbert in his ship's 
boat and eighteen others — fifty in all— proceeded up the river in 

1 This is the first mention of the island in the early narratives. Capt. 
John Smith (1616) calls it Satguin. According to the late Rev. M. C. O'Brien 
of Bangor, a recognized authority in the Abnaki language, this Indian name 
of the island means "he vomits". Evidently the Indians had long been 
familiar with the general condition of the waters between Seguin and the 
mainland. 

2 The vessel, it seems, was now in the vicinity of Cape Small point. Thayer 
{The Sagadahoc Colony, 62, notej says : "The outermost point or true cape 
must be regarded as one of the islands, though it is now joined to the main 
land by a low neck of sand. It is 400 or 600 yards in extent. Seal island, 
350 yards in length, lies northeast, nearer the land." 



76 THE BEGINNINGS OP COIyONlAl, MAINE. 

search of the most suitable place for the plantation. "We find 
this river", says the Relation, "to be very pleasant with many 
goodly islands in it and to be both large and deep water having 
many branches in it ; that which we took bendeth itself towards 
the northeast". From these words it may be inferred that, after 
reaching Merrymeeting bay, the explorers passed into the Kenne- 
bec ; but concerning the distance made in that part of the river 
there is no statement, or any words even from which an inference 
can be drawn. It is evident, however, that in their search the 
explorers found no place for a plantation preferable to that which 
was observable from the vessels in the river. Accordingly, after 
their return they "all went to the shore and there made choice of 
a place for our plantation, which is at the very mouth or entry of 
the river of Sagadahock on the west side of the river, being almost 
an island of a good bigness". The record affords no opportunity 
for doubt with reference to the place selected. It was at the 
mouth of the Sagadahoc, and on the west side of the river. The 
added statement, that the land selected for the plantation formed 
"almost an island of a good bigness", describes in general terms 
the peninsula of Sabino, "a huge misshapen triangle" between 
Atkins bay and the sea. Examination of this tract of land estab- 
lishes its fitness for plantation purposes. x Just as clearly as the 
Relation establishes the general location of the Popham colony on 
the west side of the river, so another discovery, since that of the 
Iyambeth Palace manuscript, enables us to fix the precise location 
of the fortified settlement, which Popham and his associates made 
at the mouth of the Sagadahoc. 2 

1 For very full particulars concerning the location, and especially for men- 
tion of erroneous opinions held by early writers, see Thayer, Sagadahoc 
Colony, 167-187. 

2 Among the treasures secured for Brown's Genesis of the United States, by 
Dr. Curry in the library at Simancas, Spain, was a copy of ' 'The draught of 
St. George's fort erected by Captain George Popham, Esquire, on the entry 
of the famous River of Sagadahock in Virginia, taken out by John Hunt the 
VIII of October in the year of our I^ord 1607". When this plan was pub- 
lished in the Genesis (Houghton, Mifflin Co., Boston, 1890, I, 190), it was 
discovered that the generally accepted view as to the location of Popham 's 



THE POPHAM COLONY. 77 

The choice of this precise location of the settlement was made 
August 19. "All went to the shore" for this purpose, and after 
the selection there was a religious service. To the colonists this 
meant much more than that held a few days before on one of the 
islands of St. George's harbor. Then, the service was one of 
thanksgiving for their safe arrival in the new world. Now, they 
were about to lay the foundations of civil government ; and as 
their own hopes, and the hopes of those most deeply interested in 
the welfare of the colony, extended into an unknown future, their 
preacher, in the presence of all the colonists, implored the blessing 
of God on the great undertaking upon which they now formally 
entered. "After the sermon", adds the Relation, "our patent 
was read with the orders and laws therein prescribed". The 
patent — if patent there was — must have been a copy of that 
granted by James I on April 10, 1606, providing for two colonies 
in America, designated as the first and second, the former known 
as the southern colony and the latter as the northern colony. 1 
The document is a lengthy one and its reading could have added 
little interest to the occasion, as its provisions were already known. 
But as the words in the Relation ' 'therein prescribed' ' make the 

fort was no longer tenable. In fact, an examination of the plan, and of the 
topographical features of the peninsula of Sabino, soon made it evident that 
the newly discovered plan could only be made to fit the plot of ground situ- 
ated a few hundred yards west of the present Fort Popham. When laid 
down upon this plot the plan fitted the location as a glove fits a hand. At 
the Popham celebration, August 29, 1862, the Maine Historical Society pro- 
vided a granite memorial of the Popham settlement for insertion in the wall 
of Fort Popham. As the construction of the fort was abandoned even before 
the close of the Civil War — so rapid was the advance in the requirements for 
offensive and defensive warfare in coast fortifications — the proposed memo- 
rial block remained uncalled for in the grounds of the fort until the approach 
of the tercentenary of the Popham colony in 1907, when the society obtained 
permission from the War Department at Washington to transfer the memo- 
rial to the rocky ledge, included in Popham 's fort as indicated on the Siman- 
cas plan. The transfer was made, and with a slight addition to the inscrip- 
tion the location of Popham's fortified settlement was appropriately and 
accurately indicated. 
1 Brown, Genesis of the United States, I, 52-63. 



78 THE BEGINNINGS OE COLONIAL MAINE. 

patent the source of the "orders and laws" now read to the colo- 
nists, the writer doubtless had reference to the instructions of the 
King promulgated November 20, 1606 x for the government of the 
colonies. These were prepared "for the good Order and Govern- 
ment of the two several Colonies and Plantations to be made by 
our loving subjects in the Country commonly called Virginia and 
America". A copy of these instructions was furnished to the 
heads of both colonies, southern and northern. The copy 
received by the Popham colonists has not been preserved. Hap- 
pily, however, the copy carried to Virginia by the Jamestown 
colonists has come down to us in full, with its provisions for 
orderly government, appointment of officers, administration of 
justice, trial by jury, punishment of offenders, etc., the founda- 
tion principles of the civil government which the colonists were to 
organize. 

First of all, these instructions established in England a "King's 
council of Virginia", having full power to give directions for 
governing the colonists "as near to the common laws of England 
and the equity thereof as may be". This King's council was 
authorized to appoint for each colony a council, and the council 
was made the governing body of the colony. The president of 
the colony, serving one year, was appointed by the colonial coun- 
cil from its own membership. His successor, in case of death, or 
absence, received appointment from the council, and for any just 
cause the council could remove the president from office. In cases 
of criminal offense, the president and council pronounced judg- 
ment. Provision was made for reprieve by the president and 
council, and for pardon by the King. The president and council 
also had power to hear and determine all civil causes. They 
could also from time to time "make and ordain such constitutions, 
ordinances and officers for the better order, government and peace 
of the people", these always, however, to be "in substance con- 
sonant unto the laws of England, or the equity thereof". Then 
follow these words: 

ilb., 1,64-75. 



th:e popham colony. 79 

"Furthermore, our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby deter- 
mine and ordain, that every person and persons being our sub- 
jects of every the said colonies and plantations shall from time to 
time well entreat those savages in those parts, and use all good 
means to draw the savages and heathen people of the said several 
places, and of the territories and countries adjoining to the true 
service and knowledge of God, and that all just, kind and chari- 
table courses shall be holden with such of them as shall conform 
themselves to any good and sociable traffic and dealing with the 
subjects of us, our heirs and successors, which shall be planted 
there, whereby they may be the sooner drawn to the true knowl- 
edge of God and the obedience of us, our heirs and successors, 
under such severe pains and punishments as shall be inflicted by 
the same several presidents and councils of the said several colo- 
nies, or the most part of them within their several limits and pre- 
cincts, on such as shall offend therein, or do the contrary." 

In other words, both the colonists and the natives of the 
country, in their mutual relations, were to be under a reign of 
law that would aim to secure the rights and happiness of all. In 
the King's instructions with reference to the government of the 
two colonies, the rights of the colonists, so far as personal liberty 
is concerned, received no recognition. The officers were to be 
elected by the King's council, and not by popular vote. Strachey, 
indeed, says that after the reading of the laws under which the 
Popham colonists were now placed, "George Popham, gent, was 
nominated president; Captain Ralegh Gilbert, James Davies, 
Richard Seymour, preacher, Capt. Richard Davies, Capt. Har- 
low were all sworn assistants. 1 Captain John Smith, 

however, puts the case very differently, when, in referring to the 
Popham colony in his General History of New England? he says : 
' 'That honorable patron of virtue, Sir John Popham, Lord Chief 
Justice of England, in the year 1606, procured means and men to 
possess it (i. e. that part of America formerly called Norumbega, 

1 The Sagadahoc Colony, 67, note. 

2 Richmond, Va., 1819, II, 173-4. 



80 the; beginnings of colonial maine;. 

&c.,) and sent Captain George Popham for president; Captain 
Rawleigh Gilbert for admiral ; Edward Harlow, master of the 
ordinance; Captain Robert Davis, sergeant major ; Captain Ellis 
Best, marshal; Master L,eaman, secretary; Captain James Davis 
to be captain of the fort ; Master Gome Carew, chief searcher". 

The natural inference from these words is that the officers of the 
colony were appointed in England by Sir John Popham. But the 
name of the chief justice is not included in the list of members of 
the "King's council of Virginia" which appears in the instruc- 
tions for the government of the colonies. In that council, how- 
ever, the Popham family was represented by Popham 's son and 
heir, Sir Francis Popham. Captain Smith, making the above rec- 
ord in 1624, probably was in error in implying that the officers of 
the colony were appointed by Sir John Popham. The latter' s 
enthusiastic exertions in financing the undertaking entitled him 
to honorable mention in any reference to the northern colony ; but 
unquestionably there is no ground for the inference that the 
King's instructions were not strictly followed in the appointment 
of all the officers of the Popham colony. 

On the following day, Thursday, August 20, the whole company 
again landed, and work at once was commenced on the fort that 
was to inclose the colonist's settlement. It was a large earth- 
work, occupying the level plot of ground at the northern extrem- 
ity of Sabino head. President Popham "set the first spit of 
ground". The rest followed, and "labored hard in the trenches 
about it' ' . As within the inclosure necessary buildings were to 
be erected later for the use of the colonists, there was need of busy 
endeavor in order to complete the required work before the winter 
opened. 

On the next day, the colonists continued their work, some in 
the trenches and others in the woods preparing fagots for use in 
the construction of the fort. Thus early, also, under the direction 
of the head carpenter, those who were familiar with shipbuilding 
repaired to the woods and commenced to cut timber for the con- 
struction of a small vessel, which would be needed by the colonists 



THK POPHAM COLONY. 81 

on the return of the Mary and John and the Gift of God to 
England before the close of the year. 

On Saturday, August 22, President Popham proceeded in his 
shallop up the river as far as Merrymeeting bay. From that large 
body of water, in his former exploration, he had entered the Ken- 
nebec, and noted its characteristics and opportunities for trade 
with the Indians. This time he turned westward from this point, 
and entered the ancient Pejepscot, now the Androscoggin. Prob- 
ably he proceeded as far as the falls at Brunswick. There, or at 
some other part of the river, he held a parley with a body of 
Indians, who informed him that they had been at war with 
Sasanoa, the chief of the Kennebec Indians, and had slain his son. 
He also learned that Skidwarres and Nahanada were in this fight. 
Having completed his exploration, President Popham returned 
with his party to the mouth of the river on the following day. 

With the new week that had opened, the colonists continued 
the work upon which they had entered with so much energy and 
enthusiasm. Meanwhile Captain Gilbert had in contemplation 
exploration to the westward after the return of President Popham. 
By unfavorable weather, however, he was delayed until Friday, 
August 28, when, in his ship's boat with fifteen others, he sailed 
out of the river and proceeded westward along the coast. Men- 
tion of "many gallant islands", evidently the islands of Casco 
bay, is made in the Relation. It was a picturesque scene which 
Gilbert and his companions had before them, as in the afternoon, 
with a favoring breeze, they sailed past these many wooded 
islands. That night, the wind having now shifted and being 
strong against them, they anchored under a sheltering headland 
called Semeamis. Because of meager details in the Relation, the 
exact location of this headland cannot now be determined with 
certainty. Thayer, who has carefully sought for a location in the 
light of these scanty materials, expresses the opinion that it is to 
be found on some part of Cape Elizabeth, not far from Portland 
head light, in what is known as Ship cove. 1 
1 The Sagadahoc Colony, 69, note. 
6 



82 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

The next morning, Captain Gilbert, against a strong head-wind, 
continued his course along the coast. There was hard rowing in 
a rough sea, and progress was slow. At length as the day drew 
to a close, escaping the baffling billows that had assailed them so 
many hours, they came to anchor under an island "two leagues 
from the place" where they anchored the night before. The 
indications are clear that this island was no other than Richmond's 
island. Here Gilbert remained until midnight, and then, the wind 
having subsided, he and his companions left the island "in hope 
to have gotten the place we desired". But soon after the wind 
again swept down upon them — a strong wind from the southwest 
— and they were compelled to return to the anchorage they had 
just left. Concerning the desired place which Gilbert hoped to 
reach, there is no information. Something, evidently, he had 
learned from Pring, or earlier explorers, led him onward and the 
head-winds that beset him, and drove him back, brought disap- 
pointment. 

The next day was Sunday, and the southwest wind being favor- 
able for the return to the Sagadahoc, the baffled voyagers directed 
their boat thitherward. Again they entered Casco bay, and again 

the writer of the Relation extolled its "goodly islands 

so thick & near together that you cannot well discern to number 
them, yet may you go in betwixt them in a good ship, for you 
shall have never less water than eight fathoms. These islands are 
all overgrown with woods very thick as oaks, walnut, pine trees 
& many other things growing as sarsaparilla, hazle nuts & whorts 
in abundance" . The return journey was successfully made, and 
the mouth of the Sagadahoc was reached at the close of the day. 
It was a very favorable run from Richmond's island. 

Attention was now given not only to work on the fort, but also 
to the erection of a storehouse within the inclosure. Any rela- 
tion with their Indian neighbors was a matter of very great inter- 
est. On the first day of September a canoe was discovered 
approaching the fort, but its occupants, when at the shore, acted 
warily, not allowing more than a single colonist to come near at a 



THE POPHAM COLONY. 83 

time. The writer of the Relation makes mention of two "great 
kettles of brass" that he saw in the canoe, an evidence apparently 
of earlier trading relations with European fishing and trading ves- 
sels on the coast. 

A few days later, September 5, nine Indian canoes entered the 
river from the eastward. They contained about forty men, 
women and children, and among them were Nahanada and Skid- 
warres. All were kindly welcomed and entertained. The larger 
part of the visitors, after a while, withdrew to the opposite side of 
the river and made their camp there ; but Skidwarres and another 
Indian remained with the colonists until night. Then, as both 
wished to rejoin their own people, Captain Gilbert and two other 
officers conveyed them across the river, and stayed that night 
with the Indians who were to depart in the morning. When, at 
that time, the Indians set out on their return to Pemaquid, Gil- 
bert obtained from them a promise that on a certain day, agreed 
upon by both parties, they would accompany him to the place on 
the Penobscot river where the "bashabe", or principal chief of 
that region, resided. 

This promise evidently gave great satisfaction to the colonists, 
and strengthened the hope that thus early strong friendly relations 
would be opened with one of the most powerful of the neighbor- 
ing Indian tribes. Accordingly, three days later, Tuesday, Sep- 
tember 8, Gilbert, accompanied by twenty-two others, started east- 
ward, taking with them various kinds of merchandise for traffic 
with the Indians. But again the wind was contrary, and in wait- 
ing for more favorable weather conditions, they delayed so long 
that they were not able to reach Pemaquid at the appointed time. 
When they finally came to the place, the Indians, whom they 
were to meet, and who were to conduct them to the "bashabe", 
had left. They "found no living creature. They all were gone 
from thence". This is a noteworthy record in the Relation, inas- 
much as it furnishes information with reference to conditions 
existing at Pemaquid at that time. Indians were its only inhabi- 
tants, and they had now left. If Gilbert and his men, in their 



84 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAE MAINE. 

search for the Indians, found at Pemaquid any traces of other 
inhabitants or of an earlier European civilization 1 , they failed to 
record the fact. Early references to Pemaquid make mention 
only of Indian occupation, or traces of such occupation. 

But Gilbert and his companions, disappointed in not finding the 
Indians, and especially Nahanada and Skidwarres, did not aban- 
don the expedition, but sailing round Pemaquid point, Gilbert 
directed his boat to the eastward in the hope of reaching by water 
the seat of the "bashabe" upon the Penobscot river. Three days 
were spent in this endeavor, but the river did not open to them in 
that time, and their food supply not warranting a farther search, 
the explorers were at length compelled to turn about and make 
their way back to their companions at the mouth of the Sagadahoc. 

Meanwhile the storehouse within the fort had been so far com- 
pleted, that September 7, the removal of supplies from the Mary 
and John began. But work on the fort was not discontinued. 

1 The "Commissioners in Charge of the Remains of the Ancient Fortifica- 
tions at Pemaquid", in their report dated December 13, 1902, say (p. 3): "The 
remnants of a well-populated and well-built town with paved streets now 
quite below the surface of the present cultivated soil — the date of which 
establishment has not yet been discovered — show that this was also in very 
early times occupied with intention of permanence. ' ' The reason for this 
non-discovery is found in the fact that search is made where nothing is to be 
found, if by "very early times" is meant some period prior to the Popham 
Colony. In connection with their report the commissioners print a "Memo- 
rial" submitted by Hon. R. K. Sewall, who refers to "marked remains and 
relics of Spanish occupation". Members of the Popham colony visited 
Pemaquid on four different occasions, but make no mention of indications 
of earlier "Spanish occupation" or any other occupation than Indian, nor 
did the Indians call their attention to "marked remains" ; neither did such 
careful explorers as Pring, de Monts, Champlain, Capt. John Smith and others 
make any mention of such remains. In connection with the construction of 
Fort Willian Henry (1692) a very substantial structure, "paved streets", *. 
e., good roadway approaches to the fort, were doubtless made, or, in 1729, 
when upon the ruins of Fort William Henry (destroyed in 1696) Fort Fred- 
eric was built. This last strong fortification was demolished early in the 
Revolution in order that it might not become a British stronghold. With the 
utter overthrow of these Pemaquid fortifications, any "paved streets" made 
in connection with them naturally disappeared. 



THE POPHAM COIvONY. 85 

The season, however, was advancing so rapidly that it seemed 
desirable to make a more extended exploration of the river before 
it should be closed by ice. Accordingly, September 23, Gilbert 
and nineteen others started "for the head of the river of Sagada- 
hock' ' . For two days and a part of a third day, the course of the 
Kennebec was followed as far as the falls at Augusta. With some 
difficulty these were successfuly passed, and Gilbert and his com- 
panions ascended the river about a league farther. But night 
coming on they landed and went into camp. The evening had not 
far advanced when their rest was disturbed by a call in broken 
English from some Indians on the opposite side of the river. A 
response was made, but the strangers soon withdrew and the night 
passed without added interruption. The use of broken English 
by these savages indicated an earlier contact with Englishmen 
in American waters. Possibly this was in the preceding year 
when Hanham and Pring were on the coast. It is perhaps more 
probable that the "broken English" of these Indians was the 
result of trading relations with English fishermen, whose vessels 
had visited American waters from the opening of the century, or 
at least shortly after its opening. 

On the following morning, Saturday, September 26, four Indi- 
ans appeared and made themselves known as the Indians who had 
called to them from the opposite side of the river the evening 
before. Evidently they had received information of the progress 
of Gilbert and his men up the river, and wished to learn the sig- 
nificance of the presence of the visitors. One of the four announced 

himself as "Sebanoa l, or d of the river of Sagada- 

hock". 

With this announcement, the manuscript Relation, followed in 
this narrative thus far, abruptly closes at the bottom of a page. 
There can be little, if any doubt whatever, that originally there 
were added pages which in some way became detached, and so 
were finally lost in the vicissitudes through which the manuscript 
passed before it found a safe resting place in the library of Lam- 
beth Palace. The story of the Popham colony that is found in 



86 THE; BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE). 

William Strachey's Historie of Travaile into Virginia, follows so 
closely the Relation to this point as to leave little doubt from the 
character of the rest of the story, that Strachey had all the miss- 
ing pages of the manuscript before him while writing his narra- 
tive. As there is reason to believe that the manuscript — doubtless 
prepared for the information of the patrons of the enterprise — was 
continued only to October 6, 1607, the probable date of the sail- 
ing of the Mary and John for England, the loss is not a great one, 
and happily is in part at least supplied by Strachey's narrative, 
supplemented from other sources than those available now. 

Strachey's narrative continues the story of Gilbert's interview 
with Sebanoa, recording acts of duplicity and treachery on the 
part of the Kennebec Indians as well as other acts of kindness and 
good-will. Gilbert seems to have conducted himself with tact and 
discretion under circumstances that were full of peril to himself 
and his party. It was his declared purpose in the exploration to 
go "to the head of the river", but the rapids he had now reached 
made progress difficult. His experiences with the Indians, also, 
had been by no means what he desired. At all events he now 
abandoned farther advance up the river, and having erected a 
cross at the highest point he had reached, he set out on his return 
to the settlement. On the way down the river, search was made 
for the ' 'by river of some note called Sasanoa' ' , by which plainly 
was meant the tidal river that connects the Kennebec opposite 
Bath with the waters of Sheepscot bay. Concerning this inland 
passage into the Sagadahoc, information doubtless had been 
received from Indians they had met in interviews already men- 
tioned ; but though Gilbert and his party looked for it carefully, a 
fog at length settled down upon them and they were obliged to 
make their way homeward as best they could. 

They reached the fort on September 29. September 30 and 
October 1 and 2, all were busy about the fort. On the Mary and 
John, too, now nearly ready to sail on her return voyage to Eng- 
land, there were doubtless many evidences of preparations for 
the voyage. September 3, Skidwarres, crossing the river in a 



THE POPHAM COLONY. 87 

canoe, brought a message to President Popham, saying that 
Nahanada, also the bashabe's brother and other Indians, were on 
the opposite side of the river, and would visit the colonists on the 
following day. This they did, two canoes conveying the party, 
which included Nahanada and his wife, Skidwarres, the bashabe's 
brother and a chief called Amenquin. Popham entertained his 
guests with kindness and generosity during two days, the last day 
being Sunday, on which "with great reverence and silence" the 
Indians attended the religious services of the colonists both morn- 
ing and evening. With the exception of Amenquin, all the 
Indians departed on Monday, October 6, and on this date the 
daily journal in Strachey's narrative ends. This abrupt suspen- 
sion of the daily record of the Popham colony gives probability to 
the inference that it was brought to a close because of the sailing 
of the Mary and John about this date; the journal having been 
kept apparently for the purpose of affording the patrons of the 
colony in England eagerly awaited information at the earliest pos- 
sible opportunity. As the plan of Fort St. George, already men- 
tioned, bears the inscription, "taken out on the 8th of October, 
1607", it is possible that in these few words is recorded the exact 
date on which the Mary and John sailed out of the river home- 
ward bound. 1 

The vessel arrived in the harbor of Plymouth, England, on the 
first day of December. No one with a deeper personal interest 
welcomed the tidings the Mary and John brought from the colo- 
nists than Sir Ferdinando Gorges. The journal was placed in his 
hand, and added information with reference to the colony was 
communicated by the officers of the vessel. It was "great news", 
and the commander of the fort at Plymouth late that very night 
—evidently having spent the preceding hours in personal inter- 
views with the returning voyagers— hastened to make known to 
Secretary Cecil at Hatfield house the information he had received. 2 

1 Thayer, Sagadahoc Colony, 192-196, has a valuable paper on the "Move- 
ments of the Ships". 

2 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 154-157. 



88 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

The colonists, he wrote, had successfully established themselves 
in a fertile country, with gallant rivers, stately harbors and a peo- 
ple tractable, if only they were discreetly dealt with. To be sure, 
the Mary and John had brought no such cargo as would satisfy 
the expectation of those who had furnished the funds for financing 
the undertaking, and this fact, he said, might be used to the dis- 
advantage of the enterprise; but it should be remembered, he 
added, that the colonists during the two months following their 
arrival at the mouth of the Sagadahoc had been busily engaged in 
establishing themselves in a secure position there. But this was 
not the whole story, and Gorges was compelled to add that already 
among the colonists there were discordant elements, occasioned 
by the "defect and want of understanding of some of those 
employed, to perform what they were directed unto, from whence 
there did not only proceed confusion, but, through pride and arro- 
gancy, faction and private resolution", concerning which he would 
inform his lordship more fully at another time. 

But though Gorges evidently was considerably discouraged on 
account of the reported condition of things among the colonists, 
he had no difficulty in finding excellent reasons why his associates 
in the enterprise should not steadfastly resolve to follow it up with 
energy and hopefulness. Such reasons he found in "the boldness 
of the coast, the easiness of the navigation, the fertility of the soil, 
and the several sorts of commodities that they are assured the 
country do yield, as namely fish in the season in great plenty, all 
along the coast mastidge for ships, goodly oaks, and cedars with 
infinite other sorts of trees, rosin, hemp, grapes very fair and 
excellent good, whereof they have already made wine, much like 
to the claret wine that comes out of France ; rich furs if they can 
keep the Frenchmen from the trade ; as for metals, they can say 
nothing, but they are confident there is in the country, if they had 
means to seek for it, neither could they go so high as the alum 
mines are which the savages doth assure them there is great plenty 
of". The manufacture of alum from pyritic shale was at that 
time exciting public interest not only in England but upon the 



THE POPHAM COLONY. 89 

continent ; and the fact that thus early the colonists had satisfied 
themselves of the existence of deposits of pyritic shale in the Sag- 
adahoc country was one especially welcome to Gorges. 1 

In a second letter to Cecil, dated December 3, 1607, 2 Gorges 
gives fuller expression to the reports he had received with refer- 
ence to the general confusion already existing among the colo- 
nists. President Popham, he described as "an honest man, but 
old and of an un wieldly body, and timorously fearful to offend or 
contest with others that will or do oppose him ; but otherwise a 
discreet, careful man". Concerning Gilbert, the second in com- 
mand, Gorges says he is described by those who returned in the 
Mary and John as "desirous of supremacy and rule, a loose life, 
prompt to sensuality, little zeal in religion, humorous, headstrong 
and of small judgment and experience, other ways valiant enough' ' . 
Of the other officials, the preacher, Rev. Robert Seymour, was 
especially commended "for his pains in his place and his honest 
endeavors". Honorable mention was also made of Captain Robert 
Davies and Mr. Turner, the company's physician. But of the col- 
onists in general, little was said. Evidently they were regarded 
by Gorges as unfit for employment in such an undertaking. 
"Childish factions" had already developed among them. 

Naturally, Gorges was disturbed on account of this condition of 
things in the new colony ; and he expresses to Cecil the wish that 
the king, ' 'unto whom by right the conquest of kingdoms doth 
appertain", would take the matter into his own hands, and so not 
allow the project to fail. Delicacy did not allow Gorges to with- 
hold the suggestion that in case this were done he would be 
"most happy to receive such employment" from the king as his 
highness shall deem him fitted, and he had no doubt that, with 

1 '%arge deposits of pyritic shale, or more popularly alum stone, exist 
near the Sagadahoc. It occurs at the mouth of Sprague's river, near Small 
point, in Georgetown ; and an extensive belt of it extends through the towns 
of Lisbon and Litchfield. On Jewell's island alum has been successfully 
manufactured from pyritic shales within a recent period." Baxter, Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 156, note. 

2 lb., Ill, 158-160. 



90 the; beginnings of colonial maink. 

"very little charges", lie would be able "to bring to pass infinite 
things". 

In all probability Cecil laid before the king this discouraging 
report. We have no reason to believe, however, that it gave the 
easy-going monarch any part of that deep anxiety that disquieted 
his devoted servant in command of the fort at Plymouth; and 
Gorges' suggestion concerning the man for the hour evidently 
received no consideration whatever. But there was occasion for 
anxiety, as Gorges well knew. If, as he desired, government 
assistance in supporting the colony could not be obtained, there 
was no lack of whole-heartedness in his continued endeavors to 
render all possible aid with reference to English colonization in 
the new world. 

Information concerning affairs at the mouth of the Sagadahoc 
after the departure of the Mary and John is derived for the most 
part from Strachey's narrative; but such information is exceed- 
ingly meagre. The colonists, he says, finished the fort and for- 
tified it with twelve pieces of ordnance. They also built fifty 
houses within the inclosure, besides a church and a storehouse. 
In this mention of the number of houses erected by the colonists 
there is evidently an error. No such number was required for 
present occupancy. Moreover, the plan of the fort found in the 
library at Simancas, which apparently was drawn with reference 
to completeness of design, shows not a third of the number of 
buildings mentioned by Strachey. To have completed, before 
winter set in, even the number indicated on the plan, would have 
required a force of workmen far beyond that which was at 
Popham's command. The most that was attempted, doubtless, 
was to provide for the colonists as comfortable quarters as the 
means at their disposal admitted. 

Added information with reference to the colonists is furnished in a 
letter 1 written by Gorges February 7, 1608, to Secretary Cecil, 
informing him of the arrival of the Gift of God in the harbor of Ply- 
mouth. Probably the date of the letter is the date of the arrival of 

1 lb., Ill, 161-164. 



THK POPHAM COLONY. 91 

the Gift, as Gorges was not likely to lose anytime in conveying to 
the government this latest intelligence from the mouth of the Saga- 
dahoc. First of all, he refers to the severity of the cold at Sagada- 
hoc, by which the colonists had been sorely pinched, although it was 
probably not later than the middle of December when the Gift's 
return-voyage was commenced and the winter then was only in 
its early stages. The health of the colonists, however, was good. 
But the troubles among them which had appeared even before the 
departure of the Mary and John were still operative, and Gorges 
was compelled to report "idle proceedings" and the existence 
of "divisions", "factions", each "disgracing the other, even to 
the savages". 1 The picture was a dark one and might have 
been made even darker. Certainly Gorges could have found in 
the report little encouragement, either for himself or Cecil, with 
reference to the success of an undertaking to which he had given 
his best endeavors. In fact, his only hopes in connection with 
English colonization upon American soil seemed now to hang 

upon the king, "the chief spring of our happiness 

who at the last must reap the benefit of all our travail, as of right 
it belongs unto him' ' ; and so he urges upon the secretary careful 
consideration of the whole matter, adding his own public and pri- 
vate reasons in seeking to extend the glory of England beyond 
the sea — namely "the certainty of the commodities that maybe 
had from so fertile a soil as that is, when it shall be peopled, as 
well for building of shipping, having all things rising in the place 
wherewith to do it". This, also, would be for "the increase of 
the king's navy, the breeding of mariners, the employment of his 
people, filling the world with expectation and satisfying his sub- 

1 Thayer {The Sagadahoc Colony, 205-211) has a very carefully prepared 
paper on the "Character of the Colonists". The review he presents is unfa- 
vorable. After quoting various writers he says (210): "In the dim reflected 
light of these few expressions, we get a blurred but not wholly misleading 
view of the colonists, as at least in part a low class of men, of light weight 
in character by former practices, or by reaction from former pressure of severe 
administration of law, inclined to be lawless and emulous of base and 
wicked deeds." 



THE POPHAM COLONY. 93 

their company back again". As none of the colonists returned in 
the Mary and John, so far as is known, the reference must be to 
the colonists who returned in the Gift of God. Such a lessening 
of the number of the colonists before even a single winter had 
passed was the most discouraging fact which the arrival of the 
Gift revealed to Gorges, and he had no heart to make it known 
to Cecil in this first report of the arrival of the second vessel. 1 

One added report from the colony is found in a letter to King 
James written by President Popham, December 13, 1607. 2 Gorges 
makes no reference to it, and of its existence there was no knowl- 
edge until it was discovered a little more than half a century ago 
by George Bancroft, the historian, while making some researches 
in the Records Office in L,ondon. The letter was written in Latin 
that cannot be called classic, and abounds in those flattering, adu- 
latory words and phrases that were so pleasing to the heart of the 
king. Popham makes no mention of discouraging circumstances. 
He had no reference even to the winter cold that had chilled so 
thoroughly the interest of so many of the colonists. It is his 
"well-considered" opinion "that in these regions the glory of God 
may easily be evidenced", the empire enlarged, and its welfare 
speedily augmented. His report concerning the products of the 
country, however, is not so well considered ; for he informs the 
king that "there are in these parts shagbarks, nutmegs and cinna- 
mon, besides pine wood and Brazilian cochineal and ambergris, 
with many other products, and these in the greatest abundance". 
Allowance must be made for the exaggeration of enthusiasm, but 
evidently the president's nutmegs, cinnamon and Brazilian cochi- 
neal were the products of excited imaginations. 

February 5, 1608, two days before Gorges wrote to Cecil con- 
cerning the arrival of the Gift of God, President Popham died. 
Gilbert and the remaining colonists doubtless gave him fitting 

1 There is a very full statement concerning the "Colonists Sent Back" in 
Thayer's Sagadahoc Colony, 197-199. 

2 Thayer, The Sagadahoc Colony, 116-119. The letter and a translation by 
Leonard Woods, D. D., president of Bowdoin College, were printed in 1857 
in the Me. Hist. Society's Coll., Series I, 5, 344-360. 



94 the; beginnings of colonial maine. 

burial within the enclosure of Fort St. George. Gorges says, "he 
had long been an infirm man". High aims and purposes, how- 
ever, still animated him. He was not one who would turn back in 
any worthy enterprise. The opportunity for securing for his king 
and country a stronghold upon the American continent, he clearly 
saw, and he embraced it with whatever of toil and hardship it 
might bring to him personally. We have no information concern- 
ing his last days. No other member of the colony died from sick- 
ness that winter. In fact, the health of the colonists throughout 
the winter season was exceedingly good. In all probability on 
account of his extreme age, the leader of the enterprise was ill- 
prepared to endure the exposures to which an unusually severe 
winter subjected him and his followers. 1 Whether, however, the 
end came suddenly, or after prolonged illness, Popham manfully 
fulfilled all the duties devolving upon him as the head of the col- 
ony, and worthily finished his course. Gorges, writing many 
years afterwards, paid beautiful tribute to Popham 's steadfast loy- 
alty to God and native land, in the words : "However heartened 
by hopes, willing he was to die in acting something that might be 
serviceable to God and honorable to his country. ' ' 

Meanwhile Gorges, Sir Francis Popham and others, were busily 
employed in securing supplies and forwarding them to the colo- 
nists at the mouth of the Sagadahoc. Writing to Cecil March 20, 
1608, Gorges said : 8 "As concerning our plantation, we have found 
the means to encourage ourselves anew, and have sent two ships 
from Topsham for the supplies of those that be there, with vict- 
uals and other necessaries, having set down the means how we 
shall be able by May next to send one more of two hundred tons' ' . 

1 A bit of information concerning the hard experiences of the Popham col- 
onists that winter is mentioned by Gorges in his Brief e Narration, in the 
statement that during the winter the "store house and most of their provis- 
ions were burned." Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of 
Maine, II, 15. In the Relation, published in 1622 by the Council for New 
England, it is stated that "their lodgings" also were burnt. 

2 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 16. 

3 lb., Ill, 165. 



THE POPHAM COLONY. 95 

The two vessels thus despatched brought to the colonists the intel- 
ligence of the death of Sir John Popham in the preceding June. 
This was a loss as unexpected as it was severe. But the welcome 
arrival of these two ships with abundant supplies was ample testi- 
mony to the fact that the colonists still had in England ardent 
friends of the enterprise. In the reports that have come down to 
us concerning the arrival of these two vessels, there is no mention 
of any increase in the membership of the colony by recruits from 
England. Gorges refers to supplies only. Of course there was 
need of these ; but it was not by any means the only need of the 
men, who, notwithstanding past discouragements, were loyally 
sustaining Sagadahoc interests ; and it is impossible to think of 
any such gathering of supplies by Gorges and his associates that 
was not at the same time accompanied by the most earnest efforts 
to reinforce the little company of forty-five left with Popham and 
Gilbert on the departure of the Gift of God in the middle of 
December. Such efforts, however, seem to have been unsuccess- 
ful. 1 

But the affairs of the colonists brightened with the arrival of the 
two vessels from England. The winter with its cold and storms 
was behind them. Gilbert had succeeded George Popham as 
president of the colony. The Virginia had been launched and 
was ready for service. With the promise of a third vessel and 
added supplies soon to be on their way, the outlook for the future 
of the colony was certainly a more favorable one. Evidently 
neither on the part of the supporters in England, nor on the part 
of the leaders of the enterprise at Fort St. George, was the possi- 
ble abandonment of the undertaking in any way under considera- 
tion. 

Concerning the condition of affairs under the direction of Gil- 
bert we have no information whatever. All we know is that his 

1 ' 'No evidence whatever shows subsequent accessions to the depleted 

company The several writers make references to a new supply 

furnished, necessaries to supply them, ships sent back with supplies 

but there is joined no word respecting men also, whether laborers, mechan- 
ics, planters, or persons for special duty." Thayer, Sagadahoc Colony, 198. 



96 the beginnings of colonial mains. 

presidency was brought to an unexpected end by the tidings 
brought to the Sagadahoc by the third vessel despatched thither. 
When Gorges, March 20, wrote to Secretary Cecil concerning this 
third vessel, he thought it might be ready to sail in May, but for 
some reason unknown there was delay in the preparation for the 
voyage, and in all probability the vessel did not leave England 
until July. This is a well-founded inference from the fact that 
Sir John Gilbert, the elder brother of President Ralegh Gilbert, 
died July 5, 1608. 1 The third vessel, bringing this intelligence to 
President Gilbert, could not have left England before that date. 
Probably there was not much added delay in despatching the ves- 
sel, and if this was the fact the arrival of the vessel must be placed 
about the first of September, or a little later. President Gilbert 
was his brother's heir, and on account of the large personal inter- 
ests involved in this fact, it became necessary for him to make 
preparations for an early return to England. The situation was a 
peculiar one. Among the little company remaining there was no 
one who possessed the requisite qualifications for the successful 
administration of the affairs of the colony. To continue the enter- 
prise, therefore, seemed out of the question. Accordingly, the 
complete abandonment of Fort St. George and all for which it 
stood followed, and preparations at once were made for dismant- 
ling the fort and removing the ordnance and stores to the vessels 
anchored near by. How much time was required in accomplish- 
ing this transfer is not known. In all probability the embarka- 
tion of the colonists occurred as early as the close of September. 
In the records that have come down to us concerning the return 
of the colonists there is not a hint that the departure brought any 
sorrow or even disappointment to those who constituted the great 
body of Gilbert's company. Their interest in the undertaking 
was of the slightest kind. In all probability the experiences of a 
single winter at the mouth of the Sagadahoc made welcome to 
them an opportunity to return thus early to more desirable condi- 
tions of life in their native land. Far otherwise was it with 

1 The Sagadahoc Colony, 195. 



THE} POPHAM COLONY. 97 

Gorges and other steadfast friends of English colonization in 
America, when about the close of November, or early in Decem- 
ber, the three vessels and the pinnace Virginia, built by the colo- 
nists, 1 arrived in Plymouth harbor and announced the abandon- 
ment of the colony. This was chilling information, and years 
afterward, Gorges, in referring to its effect upon himself and other 
patrons of the undertaking, could only say : "all our former hopes 
were frozen to death." 2 The collapse of the colony was complete. 
Strachey says: "all embarked and set sail for Eng- 
land." 8 

Why was not the Popham colony assigned to a more southerly 
location on the American coast, one in which the colonists would 
have avoided that severity of the winter season to which they 
were unaccustomed in their English homes ? Certainly it was not 
from any lack of knowledge concerning the unfavorable conditions 
in which they found themselves after the location of the colony. 
Nor was it because of insufficient information with reference to 
the character of the country farther down the coast. There had 
been careful exploration of the territory to the southward as far 
nearly as Narraganset bay. Pring, whose explorations largely 
determined the location of the Popham colony, was familiar with 
the coast as far as Massachusetts bay. What advantage, then, 

1 The pinnace was one of the vessels of the fleet that sailed from England to 
the southern colony in 1609. 

2 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 17. 

3 The Sagadahoc Colony, 85, 86. Baxter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his 
Province of Maine, II, 17. In "A Description of New England", obtained 
in England by Mr. Henry F. Waters, and published in the New England 
Hist, and Gen. Register, January, 1885, we get a glimpse of the remains of 
Fort St. George at a little later period. The description is supposed to have 
been written about 1660 by Samuel Maverick, who came to this country in 
1624, which is thought to be the approximate date of the visit. He says : 
"Three leagues distant from Damerell's Cove is Sagadahock at the mouth of 
the Kennebeck river, on which place the Iyord Popham's people settled 
about fifty years since, but soon after deserted it and returned for England ; 
I found roots and garden herbs and some old walls there, when I first went 
over, which showed it to be the place where they had been." 



98 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

had the location at the mouth of the Sagadahoc over places in a 
more congenial climate ? 

Evidently one of the determining factors in its selection was the 
great value of the fisheries in the immediate vicinity of Fort St. 
George. The early explorers on the coast, in their printed reports, 
and much more by word of mouth, had called attention to the rich 
returns that these fisheries promised. English fishermen also 
were already acquainted to some extent with the fishing privileges 
in these waters. Those who were especially interested in the 
establishment of the colony were merchants of Plymouth and 
Bristol, long connected with fishing interests, and attracted 
hither by the reports of the greater abundance of fish on the 
American coast. Certainly, these fishing grounds had a value 
that could not be overestimated. France was endeavoring to 
seize and hold these grounds, but England claimed them and their 
possession was deemed worthy of a supreme effort on the part of 
the English nation. 

Another determining factor in the location of the Popham col- 
ony is to be found in the opportunity that the river Sagadahoc 
offered for profitable trade with the Indians, especially in valuable 
furs. There was no such opportunity farther down the coast. 

From a commercial point of view, therefore, the location of the 
Popham colony seems to have been amply justified. 

Why, then, did the colony fail? Primarily, the death of the 
Pophams, Sir John in England and Captain George, the president 
of the colony, in Fort St. George, was a heavy blow at the enter- 
prise. Then, too, Gilbert's recall to England on account of the 
death of his brother was doubtless a heavy stroke, inasmuch as 
among the other colonists no one could be found who was capable 
of taking Gilbert's place. This statement, however, reveals only 
partially the difficulties of the situation. Not only were the Pop- 
ham colonists generally lacking in those sturdy qualities that such 
an enterprise demands, but if we may accept the testimony that 
is furnished by contemporary writers, the company comprised 
the vagrant and the dissolute to such an extent that Gorges is 




w 
o 

o 

w 

o 

to 

o 
5s 

o 

h-r 
o 
o 



TH£ POPHAM COLONY. 99 

believed to have stated the fact mildly when he wrote, that they 
were ' 'not such as they ought' ' . Indeed, as later he reflected upon 
the disastrous ending of the undertaking, he felt, and had reason 
for feeling, that if he and others interested in American coloniza- 
tion would achieve success in connection with their desires and 
endeavors, "there must go other manner of spirits" than were 
found so largely in the Sagadahoc colony. 1 

1 The tercentenary of the landing of the Popham colony was celebrated by 
the Maine Historical Society August 29, 1907. It was one of the fairest and 
brightest of summer days. The site of Fort St. George was first visited. 
The literary exercises that followed were held in the Popham Beach village 
meetinghouse. Addresses were delivered by Hon. James P. Baxter, presi- 
dent of the society, and Prof. Henry L. Chapman of Bowdoin College. A 
poem, The Virginia of Sagadahoc, by Mr. Harry L. Koopman, librarian of 
Brown University, was read by Rev. Dr. John Carroll Perkins of Portland. 
On the rocky eminence overlooking the site of Fort St. George, and a part of 
the fort inclosure, a memorial had been placed with this inscription : 
THE FIRST ENGLISH COLONY 
ON THE SHORES OF NEW ENGLAND 
WAS FOUNDED HERE 
AUGUST 29, N. S. 1607 
UNDER GEORGE POPHAM. 
The memorial was unveiled by Mrs. William Addison Houghton, president 
of the Maine Society of Colonial Dames, and Mr. Fritz H. Jordan, governor 
of the Maine Society of Colonial Wars ; and addresses were made by Rev. 
Henry S. Burrage, D. D., and Mr. Fritz H. Jordan. Following the unveil- 
ing, the U. S. Revenue Cutter, at her anchorage north of the site of Fort St. 
George, fired a governor's salute in honor of George Popham, the first gov- 
ernor of the Popham colony, who died in Fort St. George and was buried 
within the inclosure. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The French Colony at Mount Desert. 

SO great, however, was the disappointment in England over 
the failure of the Popham colony, that the adventurers in 
the enterprise made no attempt to renew the undertaking. 
As Gorges says, the colonists had branded the plantation "as 
being over cold, and in respect of that not habitable by our 
nation". Besides, he says, "they understood it to be a task too 
great for particular persons to undertake". This also seems to 
have been the opinion of Gorges, who would have the king mani- 
fest an interest in American colonization as a matter of national 
importance. England, as a growing power, was not playing the 
influential part in matters across the sea which in his view the 
opportunity demanded. In fact Gorges, who had had high hopes 
for the future of his nation in connection with the opening of the 
new world, was for a time utterly cast down because of this lack 
of interest in England in extending the national domain. It was 
a depressing thought that he could not find the men who were 
willing to second him in an attempt to revive the colony. But 
though cast down he was not destroyed, "not doubting", he says, 
' 'but God would effect that which man despaired of ' } As for 
the coldness of the climate at Sagadahoc, he said, he had had too 
much experience in the world to be frightened by such a blast, 
"as knowing many great kingdoms and large territories more 
northerly seated and by many degrees colder" ; and so, though 
others abandoned hope, he would not. 2 If organized effort had 
failed, however, there was still an opportunity for individual 
enterprise; and Gorges makes mention of Sir Francis Popham, 

1 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 17. 

2 lb., II, 18. 



THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DKSERT. 101 

Sir John's only son and successor, who, "having the ships and 
provisions which remained of the northern company and supply- 
ing what was necessary for his purpose, sent divers times to the 
coast for trade and fishing", but his endeavors likewise proved 
fruitless; so that, as Gorges says, Sir Francis "was necessitated 
at last to sit down with the loss he had already undergone". 

It was Gorges greatest anxiety with reference to English inter- 
ests in America, however, .that while England was neglecting the 
opportunity for planting colonies on the northern American coast, 
France, disappointed at the failure of de Monts' colony at St. 
Croix island, would now make a new and stronger effort to secure 
a foothold. What Gorges foresaw, and naturally greatly depre- 
cated, soon happened; "the Frenchmen", he says, "immediately 
took the opportunity to settle themselves within our limits". 1 

The reference is to such facts as are recorded in the Relation 2 of 
Father Pierre Biard of the Society of Jesus. Sieur de Monts' 
entire company, abandoning Port Royal, and returning to France 
in October, 1607, preceded the return of the Popham colony to 
England. Even before de Monts left Port Royal, Jean de Bien- 
court (de Poutrincourt) requested a gift of that place, which de 
Monts granted, stipulating only "that within the two succeeding 
years Sieur de Poutrincourt should go there with several other 
families to cultivate and inhabit it, which he promised to do". 3 
The deed of gift was made, and Poutrincourt laid it before Henry 
IV, requesting him to ratify it. The king acceded, and in the 
interest of mission work among the Indians, in connection with 
colonial undertakings, he appealed to the head of the Jesuit order 
for the appointment of missionary priests to accompany the expe- 
dition. Toward the end of 1608, such an appointment was 
received by Father Biard, then a teacher of theology in Eyons ; 

1 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 207. 

2 The Relation, in both the French text and English translation, comprises 
volumes III and IV of the Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, edited by 
Reuben Gold Thwaites, and published by the Burrows Brothers, Cleveland, 
Ohio, 1897. 

8 The Jesuit Relations, III, 161. 



102 the; beginnings of COLONIAL MAINE). 

but on repairing to Bordeaux as directed, he found he had been 
as much "deceived in regard to the place, as the time". 1 

About a year later Poutrincourt appeared in Paris, and the king, 
learning to his surprise that he had not left France, addressed him 
with such severity of words and manner that Poutrincourt has- 
tened to make preparations for the voyage. Father Biard again 
offered the services of himself and others of his order in connec- 
tion with the expedition ; but, evidently adverse to the presence 
of missionaries in the colony, Poutrincourt advised him to await 
developments on the American coast, saying ' 'that as soon as he 
arrived at Port Royal he would send his son back to France, and 
that with him all things being better arranged, such persons 
should come as it might please the king to send". 2 

Poutrincourt finally sailed toward the end of February, 1610, 
and arrived at Port Royal about the beginning of June. When, 
however, the son returned to France, and failed to fulfill the prom- 
ise of his father concerning the Jesuit missionaries, Madam de 
Guercheville 3 , who had become much interested in religious work 
among the Indians, took the matter in hand with the result that 
Father Pierre Biard and Father Knemond Masse were able to 
make arrangements for their departure. There were still added 
delays, it is true ; but at length they were received on board a 
small vessel that sailed from Dieppe, January 26, 1611, and arrived 
at Port Royal on June 22, following. 

The little colony was found to be in straits even with the sup- 
plies that the newly arrived vessel brought ; and Poutrincourt, 
about the middle of July, sailed for France, leaving his son, Bien- 

1 The Jesuit Relations, III, 163. 

2 lb., Ill, 165. 

3 She was a lady of honor to Marie de Medici, Queen of France, and is 
rightly characterized by John Fiske in his New France and New England 
(74, 75) as one whom Henry IV "wooed in vain". She had purchased all 
the rights and claims of de Monts to land in Acadia, and she had also 
obtained from the boy king, Louis XIII, a grant of all the territory between 
the river St. Lawrence and Florida. Father Biard refers to her as "ardently 
zealous for the glory of God and the conversion of souls". Ill, 167. 



THE; FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. 103 

court, in command of the colony. With a view to added explora- 
ation evidently, Biencourt proceeded down the coast. Father 
Biard accompanied him, and the party reached the Kennebec 
toward the close of October. In his Relation, Father Biard makes 
brief mention of such information as was received at this time and 
place concerning the Popham colonists, 1 who, they were told, had 
been driven away by the Indians. "They made excuses to us for 
this act", says Father Biard, "and recounted the outrages that 
they had experienced from these English ; and they flattered us, 
saying that they loved us very much", etc. In relating this story 
as to the cause of the abandonment of Fort St. George, the Indi- 
ans evidently flattered themselves as well as their French visitors. 
The story is without support of any kind. Friendly relations the 
Popham colonists desired and sought in their brief stay. The 
Indians, doubtless, were glad to witness their departure, and prob- 
ably believed their own story that the compelling force in the 
departure of the Popham colonists was to be found in them ; but, 
as is well known, the flag of St. George at the mouth of the Saga- 
dahoc was lowered primarily by remote circumstances, with which 
the Indians on the Kennebec had no connection whatever. 

Biencourt remained at the Kennebec with his party until 
November 4, or 5, and then set out on the return to Port Royal. 
At Pentegoet, 2 he found an assemblage of eighty canoes and about 
three hundred Indians. Then, passing up the coast, he visited 
the site of de Monts' settlement at St. Croix island. Finally, on 
an unknown date, the exploring party reached Port Royal, where 
snow began to fall on November 26. 

Father Biard's narrative shows that the relation of the Jesuits 
to the other members of the colony at Port Royal, during the win- 
ter that followed, was by no means an harmonious one. Evidently 
complaints of hindrances of various kinds,' if not of ill treatment 
and open opposition, were made by the Jesuits to their friends in 

1 Father Biard assigns to the Popham colony the years 1608 and 1609. 
They should be 1607 and 1608. Ill, 223. 

2 The present Castine. 



104 THE) BEGINNINGS OP COIvONIAI, MAINE). 

France. 1 Meanwhile the missionaries devoted themselves to the 
study of the language of the natives, and to such other matters as 
opportunity offered, displaying considerable adaptability to their 
surroundings. At length relief from unhappy conditions was at 
hand. In response to the appeal of the missionaries, Madame de 
Guercheville and her friends in France fitted out a vessel ' 'to take 
the Jesuits away from Port Royal, and to found a new French set- 
tlement in a more suitable place' ' . 2 

Such is Father Biard's statement concerning this added effort to 
advance French interests on the American coast. Zeal for reli- 
gion was a motive of importance in connection with the movement ; 
but it had also another motive, namely, the establishment of "a 
new French settlement in a more suitable place than Port Royal". 
That more suitable place was only to be found within the English 
claim farther down the coast, a movement which Father Biard, 
who had been as far as the Kennebec, had doubtless urged. 

At the head of this new expedition in the interest of religion 
and French colonization was Captain Saussaye. He was to take 
with him two Jesuits, Father Quantin, and a lay brother, Gilbert 
du Thet, and on his arrival at Port Royal, he was to receive on 
board his vessel Father Biard and Father Bnemond Masse . His 
entire company, including sailors, numbered forty-eight persons. 
Charles Flory, "a discreet, hardy and peaceable man", was the 
master of the vessel, which was not only amply provided with pro- 
visions for a year, also with horses and goats for domestic pur- 
poses, but the queen contributed "four of the king's tents or 
pavilions, and some munitions of war". 

1 "A lay brother, named Gilbert du Thet, had brought out supplies, and on 
his return to France, he acquainted the Marchioness de Guercheville, the 
patroness of the mission, with the wretched state of the two fathers, and the 
wrong done them, and sought to make some arrangement which would leave 
the missionaries at liberty to prosecute their labors. Failing in this, she 
resolved to found in some other spot a mission colony." History of the 
Catholic Missions among the Indian Tribes of the United States, 1529-1854, 
by John Gilmary Shea, 131. 

2 Relations, III, 261. 



THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. 105 

The expedition sailed from Honfieur, France, March 12, 1613, 
and in two months la Saussaye reached Cape la Have on the coast 
of Acadia, where he landed and erected a cross, upon which he 
placed the coat of arms of Madame de Guercheville, "as a sign of 
his having taken possession there in her name". 1 Thence the 
vessel proceeded to Port Royal, but the date of the arrival is 
unknown. The royal command, in letters of the queen, "to 
release the Jesuits", was at once presented, the arrangements for 
the departure were soon made, and, in a few days, la Saussaye, 
having taken the missionaries on board, left Port Royal and 
started down the coast "to go to the river Pentegoet, to the place 
called Kadesquit, 2 the site destined for the new colony", and a 
most advantageous place, it was believed, for such an enterprise. 
"But God ordained otherwise", wrote Father Biard. A dense 
fog enveloped the vessel on the way, and the wind not permitting 
the captain to stand out to sea, all on board were in imminent 
peril from breakers and rocks throughout two days and nights. 
Prayers were offered for divine help. "When evening came on", 
says Father Biard, "we began to see the stars, and by morning 
the fogs had all disappeared". At once the position of the ves- 
sel was made out by those on board who were familiar with the 
coast. "We recognized that we were opposite Mount Desert 
(au devant des Monts deserts) 8 an island, which the savages call 
Pemetiq. The pilot turned to the eastern shore of the island, and 
there located us in a large and beautiful port, where we made our 
thanksgiving to God, raising a cross and singing to God his 
praises with the sacrifice of the holy mass. We called this place 
and port Saint Sauveur. ' ' 4 

1 Relations, III, 263. 

2 The Kenduskeag river enters the Penobscot at Bangor; and Kenduskeag 
is evidently a corruption for Kadesquit, the junction of the two rivers being 
the site of the Indian village, the proposed site of the colony. 

3 lb., Ill, 265. 

4 John Gilmary Shea {History of the Catholic Missions among the Indian 
Tribes) writes carelessly concerning locations mentioned in Father Biard's 
Relation. For example, he tells us that la Saussaye "sailed for Mt. Desert, 



106 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

This port, on the eastern shore of Mount Desert, is easily iden- 
tified with that of the present Bar Harbor. But Saint Sauveur 
was not Kadesquit, and a dispute soon arose between the sailors 
and the leaders of the colony, because of a difference in interpret- 
ing the contract drawn up in France concerning the voyage. The 
sailors held that the period of three months, for which they were 
holden after the arrival of the vessel at a port of Acadia, should 
commence with the arrival at Mount Desert. When it was 
explained to them that Kadesquit was the designated place, not 
Saint Sauveur, and that the three months would not be counted 
until they were there, the pilot, who was in agreement with the 
sailors, maintained "that a ship had never gone so far as Kades- 
quit, and that he had no intention of becoming the discoverer of 
new routes". "Nothing but argument", wrote Father Biard, "a 
bad augury for the future." 1 So it seemed. 

But more favorable omens were discovered. During this wrang- 
ling, a party of Indians signaled to the vessel, and in the confer- 
ence that followed the Indians learned that the Port Royal fathers 
were on the ship. They asked to see Father Biard, whom they 
had met at Pentegoet. Father Biard came on shore, and when in 
the conversation that followed he asked the Indians the way to 
Kadesquit, they replied, "if you wish to stay in these regions, 
why not remain with us?" affirming that they had as good and 
beautiful a location for the colony as Kadesquit. Father Biard 
records that he was not moved by these appeals, for "he knew 
that the savages did not lack that with which almost everyone is 
abundantly provided, namely, the ability to praise his own 
wares"; 2 but when the Indians informed him that their chief, 

at the mouth of the Kennebec", and he locates the colony on "the east side 
of the island". He is also exceedingly free in his use of Father Biard' s 
Relation, when he writes, "Their pilot, by some mistake, carried them to the 
east side of the island" [Mount Desert]. The Relation has no hint even of 
a mistake on the part of the pilot, but clearly states the circumstances con- 
nected with the approach to Mount Desert. 

1 Jesuit Relations, III, 267. 

2 lb., Ill, 269. 



THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. 107 

Asticou, was sick unto death and wished to be baptized, saying 
that if the chief did not receive baptism before death he would not 
go to heaven, Father Biard yielded to an argument "so naively 
deduced", and with two of his associates started in a canoe for 
Asticou' s camp. On their arrival they found the chief sick, but 
with a cold only; and having assured themselves of Asticou' s 
favorable condition, and finding they had plenty of leisure for a 
visit to the promised better location for a settlement, Father Biard 
and his associates made their way thither. The Indians had not 
overpraised the location. Nothing more desirable could be 
expected ; and on their return to the ship Father Biard confirmed 
the statement of the Indians. The other members of the colony 
were asked to examine the location ; they did so, and on their 
return it was an unanimous agreement that the colonists ought 
not to look for anything better, and all thought of proceeding to 
Kadesquit was at once abandoned. The following is Father 
Biard's description of the accepted location of the Jesuit colony: 

"This place is a beautiful hill, rising gently from the sea, its 
sides bathed by two springs ; the land is cleared for twenty or 
twenty-five acres, and in some places is covered with grass almost 
as high as a man. Its aspect is to the south and east, like that at 
the mouth of the Pentegoet, 1 and looking to where several attrac- 
tive brooks, abounding in fish, discharge themselves. The soil is 
dark, rich and fertile. The port and harbor are as fine as can be 
seen, and are in a position favorable to command the entire coast. 
The harbor especially is as safe as a pond. For besides being 
sheltered 2 by the great island of Mount Desert, it is still more pro- 

1 The reference apparently is to the situation of Castine. 

2 Father Biard says : "Car outre qu'il est repari de la grande Isle des Mots 
deserts il Pest encores de certaines petites Islettes, qui rompent lesflots & les 
vents, & fortiplent son entree.'''' The translation, as given in connection with 
the text, is as follows : ' 'For besides being strengthened by the great island 
of Mount desert, it is still more protected by certain small Islands which 
break the currents and the winds, and fortify the entrance" {Jesuit Rela- 
tions, III, 270, 271). The word strengthened evidently misses the meaning of 
repari. It is the sheltered, protected situation of the location that the 



108 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

tected by certain small islands which break the currents and the 
winds and fortify the entrance. There is not a fleet which it is 
not capable of sheltering, nor a ship so deep that could not 
approach within a cable's length of the shore to unload. It is 
situated in latitude forty-four and one third degrees, a position 
still less northerly than that of Bordeaux." 

This careful description clearly indicates the location. It was 
on the western side of Somes Sound, about a mile from the open 
sea, and near where the eastern and western mountains on the 
ocean front of the island are divided by the waters of the sound. 
The place is now known as Fernald's Point, and its beautiful 
slope is as attractive in these days as it was when Father Biard 
and his associates looked upon its green, grass-grown acres. 
The harbor, too, has all the advantages indicated in the descrip- 
tion ; and the claim in our time has been made, perhaps somewhat 
boastfully, that it is "the third for majestic amplitude in all the 
world". 1 Moreover the two springs are as noteworthy to-day as 
then. 

But Father Biard, in his description of the location, had in view 
something more than a favorable spot for a mission. The real 
significance of Saint Sauveur he grasped and proclaimed when he 
made mention of its position as "favorable to command the entire 
coast' ' . It could be made of national use in extending the bound- 
aries of New France. Moreover, Father Biard 's statement con- 
cerning the latitude of the place establishes the fact that he knew 

writer plainly has in view. Parkman {Pioneers of New France, 304) has 
separi for repari in this passage, and adds that Father Biard ' 'was evidently 
mistaken in this (that he could go from the eastern part of the island to St. 
Sauveur and return in an afternoon). St. Sauveur being on the east side 
of Mount Desert, there is no place separated from it, and answering to his 
description, which he could have reached within the time mentioned". 
Parkman was misled by his wrong text. He fails also in the passage to 
notice that two locations are mentioned in Father Biard's Relation, the St. 
Sauveur of the landing on the east side of the island and the St. Sauveur of 
the settlement on Somes Sound. 

1 Biard's Relation of 1616 and St. Sauveur, by Rev. E. C. Cummings, 
Me. Hist. Society's Coll., Series II, 5, 99. 



THE) FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DKSKRT. 109 

the location was within the limits of the English claim, which was 
to latitude forty-five north. 

L,a Saussaye, having brought his vessel to the accepted location, 
landed the colonists and the work of establishing them there was 
commenced. But this was all, for also commenced "the quarrels, 
a second sign and augury of our ill-luck", says Father Biard. 
The occasion of this new outbreak of dissension was attributed to la 
Saussaye, who is said to have "amused himself too much in culti- 
vating the land, while all the chiefs of the enterprise were urging 
him not to employ the laborers for that purpose, but to get to work 
without delay upon the houses and fortifications, which he did not 
wish to do." 1 The French commander seems not to have had 
even a dream of insecurity for himself and his colony, and was in 
no wise moved by the appeals of Father Biard and his associates. 
How long la Saussaye was left to his enjoyment in the cultivation 
of the rich, fertile soil of this delightful location is unknown. 2 It 
may have been several weeks, and perhaps months. But the day 
for which la Saussaye had not looked, and for which he was wholly 
unprepared, at length came. 

Captain Samuel Argall, 3 connected with the Virginia colony at 

* Jesuit Relations, III, 273. 

2 The dates are wholly lacking in Father Biard's Relation. 

3 Captain Samuel Argall, though a young man, was an experienced navi- 
gator in 1609, when he was selected to find a direct passage to Virginia. He 
accomplished the task assigned to him, and in the following year he con- 
ducted Lord de la Warr to the Jamestown colony. In the same year also he 
made a voyage to the New England coast (Brown, Genesis of the United 
States, I, 428-439), where he engaged in fishing, thus making the beginning 
of the fishing voyages from Virginia to this vicinity. He returned to Eng- 
land in 1611, and was again in Virginia in 1612, with a commission to remain 
in Virginia and to drive out foreign intruders from the country granted to 
Englishmen by the three patents of James I. {Genesis of the United States, 
II, 815.) He returned to England in 1614, and to Virginia in 1615. In 1617, 
he was made deputy governor and admiral of Virginia. In the distribution 
of "the land of New England by lots in 1622", Cape Cod fell to him. The 
date of his death is unknown, but it was probably in 1633. His mother was 
married (a second marriage) to Lawrence Washington, an ancestor of George 
Washington. Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, II, 309. 



110 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

Jamestown, and described as "an ingenious, active, forward young 
gentleman", 1 arrived one day on the coast. He had come hither 
for the purpose of supplying the Virginia colonists with fish ; but 
having in view the possibility of French encroachments within 
the limits of England's claims, Sir Thomas Dale, governor of Vir- 
ginia, had given Argall orders, 2 when starting north, to expel the 
French from any settlements they might have made within the 
limits of King James' patent of 1606. Because of the return of 
the Popham colonists in 1608, Governor Dale evidently deemed it 
incumbent on him, as England's representative on the American 
coast, to protect the nation's interests in northern Virginia, as 
well as in the territory under his immediate command ; and he 
saw to it that Argall 's vessel, before proceeding northward, was 
properly armed and equipped. Accordingly, when Argall, hav- 
ing reached the vicinity of Mount Desert, learned from some 
Indians that there were white colonists in the neighborhood — 
Frenchmen, as he surmised from their use of the word "Norman- 
dia" which the Indians had caught up, as well as from certain 
reported acts of courtesy which Argall and his company ' 'recog- 
nized as French ceremonies of civility and politeness", — he at 
once prepared for action ; and guided by one of the Indians, who 
supposed he was doing the French colonists a favor in bringing 

1 Howe's Chronicles in Brown's Genesis of the United States , II, 751. 

2 The Virginia council, in response to a request from the privy council in 
England for a statement of the affair, wrote : "It is true Capt. Argall did 
take a French ship within the limits of our colony, who were about to plant 
contrary to the extent and privilege of his majesty's letters patent to us 
granted. That he did it by the command of the governor of our colony by 
his commission to him given under the seal of the colony, and by virtue of 
such authority as is to him derived from his majesty's great seal of Eng- 
land". Brown, Genesis of the United States, II, 731. As to Governor Dale's 
authority for his orders to Argall, it should be said that the Virginia charter 
of 1606 conferred upon the two colonies power to "encounter, expulse, repel, 
and resist, as well by sea as by land, by all ways and means whatsoever, all 
and every such person and persons, as without the especial license of the said 
several colonies and plantations, shall attempt to inhabit within the said 
several precincts and limits of the said several colonies and plantations, or 
any of them". Genesis of the United States, I, 59. 



THE) FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DE)SE)RT. Ill 

the ship in, Argall, with all sails set to a propitious breeze, 
entered Somes Sound with ' 'the banners of England flying and 
three trumpets and two drums making a horrible din", and 
opened fire upon everything French in sight. 

I^a Saussaye was on shore, and disappeared when the attack 
upon the settlement was made, showing no signs of fitness for 
leadership. The captain of the French ship was as unprepared 
for the attack as were the. colonists on the land, his sails even 
having been arranged as awnings for the deck; and when, as a 
response to Argall's terrific volley, he cried to his men, "Fire!" 
the cannoneer was not at his post. Gilbert du Thet, a lay brother, 
obeyed the command, however, but "unfortunately", says Father 
Biard, "he did not take aim"; and his associate, who was on 
shore at the time, naively adds, "if he had, perhaps there might 
have been something worse than mere noise." 1 

Moving rapidly, having fired a single volley only, Argall sought 
to place his vessel alongside of the French ship ; but Captain 
Flory, making no sign of surrender, the English commander 
renewed the attack at close quarters. The lay brother was one of 
those struck down at this time. His wound was a mortal one, 
and he died the next day. Captain Flory, also, was wounded, 
and three of his men. Two young men, who had leaped from a 
boat in order to swim to the shore, were drowned, possibly hav- 
ing first been wounded. The French now surrendered. 2 

Argall at once landed and sought for la Saussaye, but he was 
not to be found. Then, the locks of the French commander hav- 
ing been skilfully picked, a search was made for his commission 
and other papers. Having found the commission, Argall care- 
fully returned the papers, leaving the trunks as if they had not 
been opened. On the following day, la Saussaye came out of his 
hiding-place and gave himself up. First of all, Argall asked to 
see his commission. Not suspecting from the appearance of his 
trunks that they had been opened, la Saussaye turned to them 

x Jesuit Relations, III, 281. 
2 Ib., Ill, 283. 



112 THE BEGINNINGS OF COIyONIAIy MAINE. 

confidently ; but the papers he sought could not be found. Argall 
at once assumed an appearance of indignation and exclaimed, 
"You give us to understand that you have a commission from 
your king, and you cannot produce any evidence of it", adding 
that he regarded him and his company as "outlaws". 1 

It was harsh treatment, but not as severe as Father Biard and 
his associates anticipated. "We expected only death or at least 
slavery", he wrote, having in mind the hard experiences of others 
in the international conflicts of that time. Argall took down the 
cross that had been erected at Saint Sauveur, and removed the 
French armament and stores to his own ship ; but he seems to 
have acted discreetly, for Father Biard, while designating him as 
"a very shrewd and cunning captain", added that nevertheless 
he was "a gentleman of truly noble courage; nor were his men 
inhuman or cruel to any of us." 2 In fact, Father Biard has only 
words of commendation for the personal bearing of the English 
commander so far as the French colonists were concerned. 

In various ways, and after many mishaps, two-thirds of the 
French company captured at Saint Sauveur were enabled to make 
their way back to France in French vessels farther up the coast. 8 
Those remaining with Argall, including Father Biard, were dis- 
tributed among the vessels of Argall' s fleet, namely, Argall' s own 
ship, la Saussaye's captured vessel and a bark of twelve tons, also 
taken from the French. Argall, with his party of the French 
colonists, returned to Virginia, where he received a hearty greet- 
ing from the governor, who, pleased with the results of Argall 's 
work at Saint Sauveur, directed him to return and complete the 
work of removing every landmark of France "along the entire 
coast as far as Cape Breton" . Argall was prompt in his response ; 
and sailing northward with his own and the captured vessels, 
having with him also Father Biard and other French captives, he 
soon reached Saint Sauveur, where he destroyed the French fortifi- 

1 Jesuit Relations, IV, 11. 

2 lb., IV, 17. 

3 lb., IV, 27. 



THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. 113 

cations and raised another cross, carving upon it the name of 
James I as a sign of English dominion on American soil. Then 
he made his way to St. Croix island in the St. Croix river, where 
he destroyed all traces of ' 'the name and claims of France' ' left 
by de Monts' company when they withdrew to Port Royal in 1605. 
Argall had difficulty in finding St. Croix island, but he was in far 
greater straits in his search for Port Royal. At length, "by dint 
of much running about, lying in ambush, inquiring and skilful 
maneuvering", he captured an Indian chief, "a very experienced 
man and well-acquainted with the country' ' , who guided the Eng- 
lish commander safely to his desired port. No one was found at 
Port Royal when Argall landed, and taking possession of the 
French stores and other property at the fort without opposition of 
any kind, he set the buildings on fire and destroyed all "monu- 
ments and evidences" of French dominion at the place. 1 

Having thus accomplished the task assigned to him by the gov- 
ernor of Virginia, Argall, with his three vessels, set sail for the 
return voyage, November 9, 1613. His own vessel reached the 
James river in about three weeks, but la Saussaye's vessel, under 
the direction of Captain Turnel, Argall 's second in command, was 
driven by a storm far out of her course; and Turnel, losing all 
hope of being able to reach Virginia, decided to make the Azore 
islands and await more favorable conditions. At Fayal, however, 
where Turnel remained three weeks, all further effort to return to 
the American coast was abandoned. The vessel then proceeded 
to England, and arrived at Milford Haven in Wales on an 
unknown date, but probably in February, 1614. After a short 
delay, Father Biard and the other Frenchmen on board were 
released and returned to France. The French ambassador at Lon- 
don commenced negotiations for the surrender of la Saussaye's 
vessel, and reparation for the losses sustained by the French at 
Saint Sauveur. The vessel was given up, but the claim for repara- 
tion was denied, the privy council stating in a communication 

1 Jesuit Relations, IV, 35-39. 



114 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

addressed to the ambassador, "As to Madame the Marchioness of 
Guercheville she has no reason to complain, nor to hope for any 
reparation, seeing that her ship entered by force the territory of 
said colony to settle there, and to trade without their permission, 
to the prejudice of our treaties and of the good understanding there 
is between our kings". 1 

The governor of Virginia based his action in this affair on the 
following facts. In the charter of 1606, granted by King James 
to the southern and northern colonies of Virginia, that part of 
North America between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees 
of north latitude was plainly recognized as belonging to Great 
Britain. The grant was in response to a petition for royal permis- 
sion "to make habitation, plantation, and deduce a colony of sun- 
dry of our people into that part of America, commonly called 
Virginia, and other parts and territories in America, either apper- 
taining unto us, or which are not now actually possessed by any 
Christian prince or people, situate, lying and being all along the 
sea coasts, between four and thirty degrees of northerly latitude 
from the equinoctial line, and five and forty degrees of the same 
latitude". The king agreed to these "humble and well-intended 
desires", and granted to the two colonies the territory indicated 
in the petition. 2 

It has been claimed by some writers 8 that the clause "not now 
actually possessed by any Christian prince or people" was vio- 
lated in Argall's destruction of the Saint Sauveur colony; that the 

1 Brown, Genesis of the United States , II, 734. 

2 lb., I, 52, 53. 

3 For example : "It [the South Virginia colony] was able in 1613 to fit out 
an armed vessel, commanded by Capt. Argall, which broke up the French 
settlements at Port Royal, Mount Desert, etc., and compelled their inhabi- 
itants to retire towards Canada ; protesting all the while that whatever 
abstract rights Great Britain might possess, if any there were, the Virginia 
charter expressly excepted in its grants regions already occupied by any 
Christian prince or people, they [the French] being a Christian people." 
History of Grants under the Great Council for New England, by Samuel F. 
Haven, in Early History of Massachusetts. Lectures before the Lowell 
Institute in Boston by members of the Mass. Hist. Society, 142. 



THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. 115 

French on the shores of Somes Sound, being a Christian people, 
were, by the charter of 1606, expressly declared to be in rightful 
possession, although they had located within the territorial limits 
mentioned in the charter. It should be noticed, however, that 
the words of the petition, "not now actually possessed by any 
Christian prince or people", are not repeated in the king's grant; 
moreover, even if they had been repeated, no appeal in behalf of 
the Saint Sauveur colony could be made to this clause inasmuch as 
it had reference to the time when the charter was granted — "not 
now actually possessed" — and not to a subsequent occupation, as 
was the case at Saint Sauveur. 

England's claim to territory in North America, however, was 
not based primarily on King James' charter of 1606, but on Cabot's 
discovery in 1497. This fact was recognized in the charter which 
Queen Elizabeth bestowed on Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1578, in 
accordance with which, in 1583, he took formal possession of 
Newfoundland in the name of the queen. Continuous possession 
in that locality did not follow, it is true. At that early period 
matters pertaining to territorial rights on this side of the sea were 
in an unsettled state. But the English claim within certain defi- 
nite limits was renewed in the charter of 1606, which virtually 
was a public announcement that the portion of North America 
between thirty-four and forty-five degrees north latitude, under 
the name Virginia, was territory belonging to the English crown. 
Sir Thomas Dale, therefore, was entirely within what he regarded 
the rights of the mother country when he gave Argall a well- 
armed vessel and directed him, properly commissioned, to destroy 
any French settlements on the Atlantic coast as far as the forty- 
fifth degree north latitude. Saint Sauveur, St. Croix island and 
Port Royal were within the limits laid down by the crown, and 
though no word of command had come to the governor from 
the king, he evidently deemed that he needed no such word of 
command. To call him a "self- constituted champion of British 
rights" 1 does him injustice. He was the acknowledged represen- 

1 Parkman, Pioneers of France in the New World, 313. 



116 THE) BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE}. 

tative of English sovereignty on American soil ; and recognizing 
this fact, having in view the just requirements of his office, he 
doubtless considered that he would fail in his allegiance to the 
crown if he allowed any encroachment upon territory within the 
limits established by the charter of 1606. 1 

So far as English interests in the new world were concerned, 
the importance of Argall's mission to our coast in 1613 can hardly 
be overestimated. As has well been said, "New England was 
reserved for the English by Argall's decisive action' ' . 2 England's 
privy council not only refused to disavow that action by the pun- 
ishment of Argall, but continued him in higher and higher com- 
mands. Here, at Somes Sound, was the beginning of that long 
struggle between England and France for dominion on American 
soil. Grand tactics later were displayed on both sides. The 
prize to be won was an alluring one. Nothing is clearer than 
that from this early period the determination was strong, and ever 
stronger in English minds and hearts, to maintain at any cost the 
English claim to American territory. Naturally there was con- 
flict, and the conflict was long continued. In the course of time 
the right of discovery was exchanged for the right of conquest, 
until in 1763, by treaty, New France disappeared from the map 
of North America, and the whole of England's claim to territory 
on this side of the sea was finally established. 3 

1 "In this manner England vindicated her claim to Maine and Acadia". 
Bancroft, History of the United States, I, 113. 

2 Brown, Genesis of the United States, II, 816. 

3 Concerning the legal points involved in such cases, see A Digest of 
International Law by John Bassett Moore, I, 258, and following. Chief 
Justice Marshall, in 1828, Johnson vs. Mcintosh, said: "On the discovery 
of this immense continent the nations of Europe were eager to appropriate 

to themselves so much of it as they could respectively acquire 

The potentates of the Old World found no difficulty in convincing them- 
selves that they made ample compensation to the inhabitants of the New, by 
bestowing on them civilization and Christianity, in exchange for unlimited 
independence. But, as they were nearly all in pursuit of the same object, 
it was necessary, in order to avoid conflicting settlements and consequent 
war with each other, to establish a principle which all should acknowledge 
as the law by which the rights of acquisition, which they all asserted, should 



TH£ FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DKSKRT. 117 

be regulated as between themselves . This principle was that discovery gave 
title to the government by whose subjects, or by whose authority it was 
made, against all other European governments, which title might be con- 
summated by possession. The exclusion of all other Europeans necessarily 
gave to the nation making the discovery the sole right of acquiring the soil 
from the natives, and establishing settlements upon it". Moore Digest 
etc., I, 258, 259. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Voyages by Captain John Smith and Others. 

NOTWITHSTANDING Strachey's explicit statement assert- 
ing the complete collapse of the Sagadahoc colony at the 
mouth of the Kennebec — a statement abundantly con- 
firmed by other contemporary writers — attempts have been made 
to give apparent support to vague surmisings that some of the 
colonists remained in the country. 1 "However first originated", 
these statements "have been elaborated and promulgated by vari- 
ous persons, have been supported by sundry considerations with 
insistence and repetition. They have assumed a place in history 
and literature, have been frequently set before the public eye in 
the newspapers and been enforced on occasion in historical or 
public assemblies. It is believed they are quite widely diffused 
among reading people, and have been accepted partially, or fully, 
by many persons interested in the history of the locality, or the 
state' ' . 2 

Especially has the effort been made to locate at Pemaquid 
Popham colonists, who are said to have remained on the coast 
after the abandonment of Fort St. George. There is no evidence, 

1 The latest, perhaps, is in Herbert Edgar Holmes' Makers of Maine, 
I/ewiston, Maine, 1912, 149: "When the [Popham] colonists at the end of 
the year returned to England, they returned in the 'Mary and John' and the 
'Virginia of Sagadahoc'! The ship 'Gift of God', with forty-five men, 
remained behind. What became of these men and their ship is doubtful, 
but the weight of evidence tends to prove that they went to Pemaquid and 
Monhegan and became those scattered settlements of Englishmen along the^ 
coast of Maine." There is no evidence whatever that these men went to?' 
Pemaquid and Monhegan. The persistence of such statements that overlook 
well-established facts is one of the surprises of well-informed readers con- 
cerning our colonial history. 

2 Coll. of the Me. Hist. Society, Series II, 6, 64. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 119 

however, upon which such an attempt can be based with any 
show of reason. Not only is there positive testimony, which the 
sources of this part of our history abundantly furnish, that all the 
colonists connected with the Popham plantation at the time of its 
abandonment returned to England, but there is no evidence that 
there was any English occupation of Pemaquid following the 
breaking up of the settlement on the Kennebec. When, for 
example, it is said that French missionaries report English people 
at Pemaquid in 1608, and' 1609, a good illustration is furnished 
of the foundation upon which this claim of English occupation at 
Pemaquid at this time is made to rest. The reference plainly is 
to the statement made by Father Biard, in his Relation, that the 
Indians told him "they drove away the English who wished to 
settle among them in 1608 and 1609". But the connection shows 
that Father Biard, in this statement, had in mind the Popham 
colony at the mouth of the Kennebec, whither he went with 
Biancourt in the autumn of 1611. It is true that he makes a mis- 
take in the date he gives and should have written 1607 and 1608, 
the dates of the Sagadahoc settlement ; but the error is easily cor- 
rected by the reader, as Father Biard has no record of any visit to 
Pemaquid in his narrative of this trip. In the passage to which 
reference is made, he is recording what he learned from the 
Indians during his visit to the Kennebec (Kinibequi) with Bian- 
court, allusion to which is made in the preceding chapter. 
Other statements, presented as a basis for Pemaquid settlement at 
this time are equally without foundation. They are figments of 
the imagination only. 1 

Certainly if any one had known of English settlers on the Maine 
coast immediately following the return of the Popham colonists to 
England, it would have been Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who was so 
bitterly disappointed at the outcome of an enterprise into which 

1 For a clear and exhaustive statement concerning "Beginnings at Pema- 
quid" see a paper with that title read before the Maine Historical Society, 
September 7, 1894, by Rev. H. O. Thayer, and printed in the Society's Col- 
lections, Series II, 6, 62-85 ; also The Sagadahoc Colony, Gorges Society, IV, 
217-239. 



120 THE BEGINNINGS OP COI/JNIAI, MAINE). 

he had put so much of heart and hope. His writings, however, 
lack even a hint of any such information. 

Already, under the reign of James I, the condition of affairs in 
England was such as to awaken serious consideration among 
thoughtful men. Two letters of Gorges, 1 written to Lord Salis- 
bury in 1611, touch upon this unhappy condition. Matters con- 
nected with English commerce especially distressed Gorges, who, 
at Plymouth, was made familiar with the piratical assaults of 
English adventurers upon the vessels of London merchants in the 
English channel, and with the contempt with which these free- 
booters regarded both the king and the government. Gorges 
also was distressed because of the very large number of men in the 
great cities and towns who were out of employment. Accord- 
ingly, with his thoughts still busy with reference to the oppor- 
tunities for English expansion on this side of the sea, he ven- 
tured the suggestion to Cecil that in this unhappy state of affairs 
in the kingdom relief might be sought, as had been done before in 
the history of nations, by "the planting of colonies in barbarous 
and uninhabited parts of the world", to the great honor and hap- 
piness of all concerned. But his suggestion, if it found support 
in Cecil, evidently found little support elsewhere, and the coun- 
try continued to drift on and on into a still more deplorable con- 
dition. 

Between 1608 and 1614, no evidence whatever is found in 
authoritative sources that there were English colonists on the 
coast of Maine, and they afford only glimpses — provokingly faint 
glimpses — of English vessels. In the Brief Relation of the Dis- 
covery and Plantation of New England, prepared by the "Presi- 
dent and Council for the affairs of New England" and published 
in 1622, after a reference to the breaking up of the Popham col- 
ony in 1608, and the return of "the whole company" to England, 
and the discouragement that followed so that "there was no more 
speech of settling any other plantation in those parts for a long 
time after", it is added : "Only Sir Francis Popham, having the 

1 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 171-176. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHKRS. 121 

ships and provisions which remained of the company, and supply- 
ing what was necessary for his purpose, sent divers times to the 
coasts for trade and fishing' ' / Gorges makes mention of a voyage 
made by Captain Henry Harley to the New England coast about 
this time ; and as he adds that Harley was "one of the plantation 
sent over by the lord chief justice' ' , in other words a member of 
the Popham colony, it is difficult to think of him as master of a 
vessel in New England waters and not making his way to the 
coast of Maine. On his return, Captain Harley called on Sir 
Ferdinando at Plymouth, bringing with him an Indian whose 
name was Epenow, 2 a native of the island of Capawick, or 
Martha's Vineyard. "At the time this new savage came to me", 
writes Gorges, "I had recovered Assacumet, one of the natives I 
sent with Captain Chalownes (Challons) in his unhappy employ- 
ment". 3 This Indian Assacumet, will be recognized as one of 

1 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 207. 

2 Gorges says he was "a person of goodly stature, strong and well propor- 
tioned", and that he was ''taken upon the main with some twenty-nine 
others by a ship qf London that endeavored to sell them for slaves in Spain ; 
but being understood that they were Americans, and found to be unapt for 
their uses, they would not meddle with them, this being one of them they 
refused. How Captain Harley came to be possessed of this savage I know 
not, but I understood by others how he had been showed in London for a 
wonder". Gorges, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 
20. Some writers mention Epenow as one of the Indians captured by Hunt ; 
but as Epenow was placed by Gorges on Hobson's vessel, which sailed from 
England in June, 1614 {Brief e Narration, II, 22), he could not have been 
included in Hunt's captives, as Hunt had not at that time captured the Indi- 
ans which he took to Spain. Tisquantum, a Cape Cod Indian, was probably 
captured by the same party that captured Epenow. He is mentioned in 
Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation under the name of Squanto. 
The Pilgrims came to know him through Samoset as one who could speak 
better English than himself. He taught the Pilgrims corn planting and 
befriended them in many ways. In recording Squanto 's death in 1622, Brad- 
ford says {History of Plymouth's Plantation, 155) that he desired "the gov- 
ernor to pray for him that he might go to the Englishmen's God in heaven, 
and bequeathed sundry of his things to sundry of his English friends, as 
remembrances of his love, of whom they had great loss". 

3 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 22. 



122 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE). 

those captured by George Waymouth in 1605 and taken to Eng- 
land. He accompanied Challons in the voyage of 1606, and with 
him and the rest of his company was captured and taken to Spain. 
In August, 1607, Captain John Barlee wrote to Secretary Cecil, 
inclosing in his letter a list of Challons' prisoners at Seville, and 
urged him to use his influence in the recovery of two savages, 
Manedo (Maneddo) and Sassacomett (Saffacomoit) 1 . Doubtless 
there was delay in the matter, and it may have been several years 
before Saffacomoit arrived in Plymouth. His return, however, 
whether sooner or later, quickened Gorges' interest in American 
matters, and in June, 1614, 2 he despatched a vessel under Captain 
Nicholas Hobson to the New England coast — the company includ- 
ing three Indians, "Epenow, Assacomet and Wanape", who were 
to be used as pilots after the vessel's arrival at its destination. 
But the voyage, apparently directed primarily to Martha's Vine- 
yard (where, it would seem, the adventurers were to search for a 
gold mine), was a failure, and Gorges, after telling briefly the 
story, recorded his added disappointment in connection with this 
new enterprise in these words : ' 'Thus were my hopes of that par- 
ticular made void and frustrate, and they returned without doing 
more, though otherwise ordered how to have spent that summer 
to good purpose". 3 Search for the gold mine might prove a fail- 
ure, but fishing on the coast of Maine had promise of success, and 
in his supplemental orders doubtless Gorges directed Hobson to 
make his way thither. Assacomet probably returned to England 
with Hobson, though he is not again mentioned. 

At this time a picturesque figure appeared on the Maine coast 
in the person of Captain John Smith, who says 4 that "in the 

1 Thayer, Sagadahoc Colony, 164. 

2 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 23. 

3 lb., II, 25. A somewhat different account appears in The Discovery and 
Plantation of New England, published by the president and council for New 
England in 1622. Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of 
Maine, I, 209, 210. Also see Captain John Smith's A Description of New 
England : Veazie reprint of edition of 1616, Boston, 1865, 67, 68. 

* A Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 19. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 123 

month of April, 1614, with two ships from IyOndon", he "chanced 
to arrive in New England, a part of America, at the isle of Mona- 
higgon in 43 £ of northerly latitude". In this record is found the 
first appearance in print of the designation New England, and 
here, also, appears for the first time the Indian name of Monhegan 
island, which Waymouth named "St. George's Island". 1 

Captain Smith became interested in new world enterprises after 
many adventures in European countries. 2 This, he records, was 
two years before the departure of the Jamestown colonists, who 
left England December 19, 1606, and whom he accompanied. He 
was a member of the first Virginia council, and was elected presi- 
dent of the colony in 1608. This office he held until he was 
arrested in September, 1609, and sent to England "to answer to 
some misdemeanors", probably as the result of factional condi- 
tions in the colony, which Smith, doubtless, had a share in creat- 
ing. He remained in England until 1614 ; and though he was 
not again identified with affairs in Virginia, he seems to have so 

1 Rosier's Relation of Waymouth' s Voyage to the Coast of Maine in 1605, 
Gorges Society, 1887, 138. 

2 These are recounted by himself in his True Travels, Adventures and 
Observations of Captain John Smith in Etirope, Asia, Africa and America. 
Republished in Richmond, Va., in 1819, from the I/ondon edition of 1629. 
Smith's trustworthiness as a historian has been strongly assailed during the 
past half century by some writers, especially by Alexander Brown in his Gen- 
esis of the United States, Boston, 1890, II, 1006-1010. "Smith's position in 
our early history", he says, "is a remarkable illustration of the maxim, 'I 
care not who fights the battles, so I write the dispatches' " ; and he adds, 
"He was certainly incapable of writing correct history when he was personally 
interested". On the other hand the article on Captain John Smith in the 
1911 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica is exceedingly favorable to him, 
and defends him against the charge of untrustworthiness. The writer is 
inclined to think that the truth is not on the one side or the other, but 
between the two. Smith's Description of New England is certainly a work 
for which we owe to him grateful remembrance. He had his faults, but he 
had also his excellences. He died in London, in the house of Sir Samuel 
Saltonstall, June 21, 1631, and was buried in St. Sepulchre's church, on the 
south side of the choir, where an elaborate epitaph still records his deeds in 
eulogistic lines. The original monument, however, was destroyed by fire in 
1661. 



124 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

far made good his defense against the Virginia charges as to secure 
general confidence in England, so that some London merchants 
furnished him with two vessels for a venture to the territory 
assigned to the North Virginia colony. 1 

One object of the voyage, he says, "was there to take whales 
and make trials of a mine of gold and copper. If these failed, 
fish and furs", he added, "was then our refuge". Evidently, in 
his preparation for the undertaking, Captain Smith had inter- 
viewed his predecessors in voyages to the New England coast, 
and doubtless had obtained from them reports of whales in Ameri- 
can waters, and suggestions as to the possibility of discovering 
mines of gold and copper. But he knew that other fisheries than 
the whale fishery had proved remunerative, as also had fur-trading 
with the Indians. Accordingly he felt reasonably confident that 
in his prosecution of the enterprise he was warranted in looking 
for such returns as would satisfy the London adventurers. He 
acted wisely, therefore, in broadening the scope of his intended 
operations. 

The fitness of Monhegan as a favorable location for the prosecu- 
tion of such an undertaking was doubtless suggested to him 

1 In his General Historie, II, 206, Smith mentions two Indians in connec- 
tion with his voyage of 1614, Dohoday, "one of their greatest lords, who had 
lived long in England", and another called Tantum whom he says "I carried 
with me from England and set on shore at Cape Cod". The first, doubtless, 
is to be identified with Tahanedo, mentioned by Rosier in his list of the five 
Indians captured hy Waymouth in 1605 [Rosier's Relation, Gorges Society 
reprint, 161) and taken to England; also mentioned by Gorges as Dehamda 
(Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 14). He was 
returned with Pring in 1606, and was visited by the Popham colonists in 
1607. Rosier designates him as "Sagamo or Commander", and Smith here 
calls him "one of their greatest lords". But if we are to identify Tantum 
with Tistquantum (Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 
104) he certainly was not one of the Indians treacherously seized by Hunt 
after Smith left Monhegan for England, as Smith says he set him ' 'on shore 
at Cape Cod"; and this he must have done before Hunt's capture of the 
Indians if Smith has correctly recorded his disposal of Tantum, inasmuch as 
it is hardly supposable that having been landed on Cape Cod, the Indian 
hurried back to Monhegan in time to fall into Hunt's hands, and so was 
carried by him to Malaga. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 125 

before he left England ; and on his arrival there, if not before, 
whale fishing was attempted, but without success. "We found 
this whale fishing a costly conclusion", he said. "We saw many, 
and spent much time in chasing them, but could not kill any : 
they being a kind of Inbartes, and not the whale that yields fins 
and oil as we expected". The search for gold and copper also 
was not attended with success. How the search came to have a 
place in the proposed objects of the voyage, Captain Smith 
relates: "For our gold, it was rather the master's (Hunt's) 
device to get a voyage that projected it, than any knowledge he 
had at all of any such matter' ' . 

But invaluable time was consumed in these endeavors. There 
was "long lingering about the whole", says Captain Smith. The 
best opportunity for obtaining furs from the Indians, and for 
coast fishing, "were past ere we perceived it", he adds, "we 
thinking that their seasons served at all times ; but we found it 
otherwise, for by the midst of June, the fishing failed. Yet in 
July and August some was taken, but not sufficient to defray so 
great a charge as our stay required. Of dry fish we made about 
40,000, of corfish 1 about 7,000." 2 

Monhegan harbor, in which Captain Smith found anchorage for 
his vessels, must have presented a busy scene during that summer 
of 1614. It was a scene that became a familiar one on the Maine 
coast. Without doubt others, in previous years, had erected 
stages there and dried their fish ; but now, for the first time, the 
parties are known and it is not difficult to reproduce in imagina- 
tion the fishermen on the harbor beach and the stages on the 
grassy slopes not far away ; while between the beach and the 
stages were scattered here and there boats, cordage, canvas and 
the various articles of one kind or another connected with fishing 
interests. 

While the larger number of the men of the two vessels were 
employed in fishing, Smith himself, with eight or nine others who 

1 Corned fish. 

2 Smith, Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 19, 20. 



126 the; beginnings of col,oniai< mains. 

"might best be spared", gave some attention to fur-trading with 
the Indians. "We ranged the coast both east and west much 
further", he says, "but eastwards our commodities were not 
esteemed, they were so near the French who affords them better; 
and right against, in the main, was a ship of Sir Francis Popham's 
that had there such acquaintance, having many years used only 
that port, that the most part there was had by him. And forty 
leagues westwards were two French ships, that had made there 
great voyage by trade, during the time we tried those conclusions, 
not knowing the coast nor savages' habitations." Popham's ship 
evidently was at what is now known as New Harbor, on the east- 
ern side of Pemaquid peninsula. The words, "right against, in 
the main", plainly point to the place. Here it was that Way- 
mouth, in 1605, met the Pemaquid Indians, and came to the 
determination to capture some of them and take them to England. 1 
It was here that Captain Gilbert, of the Mary and John, landed 
Skidwarres, when the Popham colonists came to Pentecost harbor, 
two years later. 2 Nothing could be more natural than that the 
master of Sir Francis Popham's vessel should anchor there, or 
that he should secure "the most part" of the trade with the 
Pemaquid Indians, because of acquaintance with Nahanada, the 
chief of the tribe, who had been in England, and kindly treated. 
But Captain Smith did not confine his personal attention to the 
fur trade alone. He was a careful, busy observer and passing 
along the coast "from point to point, isle to isle, and harbor to 
harbor' ' , he gathered materials for a map. 8 Soundings were made 
and recorded. Rocks and landmarks were located. The map 
was not as perfect as he desired. The haste of other affairs pre- 
vented fuller details, but it was all that the circumstances allowed, 
"being sent", he writes, "more to get present commodities than 
knowledge by discoveries for any future good yet it 

1 Rosier's Relation, Gorges Society reprint, 129. 

2 Thayer, Sagadahoc Colony, 57, note 78. 

3 The map has often been reprinted. Alexander Brown reproduces it in 
his Genesis of the United States, II, 780. There is also a good reproduction 
of the map in the Veazie reprint of Smith's Description of New England. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 127 

will serve to direct any shall go that ways to safe harbors and the 
savages' habitations". 1 

Captain Smith's Description comprises the New England coast 
from Penobscot bay to Cape Cod. It is full of valuable informa- 
tion, giving the results of intelligent observation. The following 
is his account of his observations of the Maine coast from Penob- 
scot bay to the Piscataqua. 

"The most northern part I was at was the bay of Penobscot, 
which is east and west, north and south, more than ten leagues ; 
but such were my occasions, I was constrained to be satisfied of 
them. I found in the bay, that the river ran far up into the land, 
and was well inhabited with many people ; 2 but they were from 
their habitations, either fishing among the isles, or hunting the 
lakes and woods for deer and beavers. The bay is full of great 
islands, of one, two, six, eight or ten miles in length, which 
divides it into many fair and excellent good harbors. On the east 
of it are the Tarrantines, their mortal enemies, where inhabit the 
French 8 as they report that live with those people, as one nation 
or family. And northwest of Penobscot is Mecaddacut, at the foot 
of a high mountain, a kind of a fortress against the Tarrantines 
adjoining to the high mountains of Penobscot, against whose feet 
doth beat the sea. But over all the land, isles, or other impedi- 
ments, you may well see them sixteen or eighteen leagues from 

1 Veazie reprint of Smith's Description of New England, 23. 

2 The reference, of course, is to the Penobscot Indians. 

3 This report can have no reference to a French settlement at Castine 
(called by the English, Penobscot, and by the French, Pentegoet). There 
were no Frenchmen residing there in 1613, for Father Biard, who had oppor- 
tunities for receiving information from Indian sources, would have known it 
and have mentioned it. Moreover Argall had no knowledge of French occu- 
pation there, or at any other place on the French coast in that year except 
at St. Sauveur on Mount Desert. In his map-making in Penobscot bay in 
1614, Captain John Smith was at Castine — "The principal habitation north- 
ward we were at was Penobscot' ' , Description of New England, Veazie 
reprint, 26, — but he makes no mention of finding Frenchmen there. The 
report made to him concerning the French at the eastward doubtless had its 
foundation in some mention of the French colony at St. Sauveur, which was 
broken up by Argall in 1613. 



128 the; beginnings op colonial maine. 

their situation. Segocket is the next, then Nasconcus, Pemaquid 
and Sagadahock. Up this river, where was the Western planta- 
tion, are Aumuckcawgen, Kinnebeck and divers others, where 
there is planted some corn fields. Along this river, forty or fifty- 
miles, I saw nothing but great high cliffs of barren rocks over- 
grown with wood ; but where the savages dwelt, there the ground 
is exceedingly fat and fertile. Westward of this river is the 
country of Aucocisco in the bottom of a large, deep bay, full of 
many great isles, which divide it into many good harbors. Sowo- 
cotuck is the next in the edge of a large sandy bay, which hath 
many rocks and isles, but few good harbors but for barks, I yet 
know. But all this coast to Penobscot, and as far as I could see 
eastward of it, is nothing but such high craggy cliffs rocks and 
stony isles, that I wondered such great trees could grow upon so 
hard foundations. It is a country rather to affright than delight 
one. And how to describe a more plain spectacle of desolation or 
more barren I know not. Yet the sea there is the strangest fish- 
pond I ever saw ; and those barren isles so furnished with good 
woods, springs, fruits, fish and fowl, that it makes me think 
though the coast be rocky, and thus affrightable, the valleys, 
plains and interior parts may well (notwithstanding) be very 
fertile. But there is no kingdom so fertile hath not some part 
barren ; and New England is great enough to make many king- 
doms and countries, were it all inhabited. As you pass the coast 
still westward, Accominticus and Passataquack are two convenient 
harbors for small barks ; and a good country, within their craggy 
cliffs". 1 

One has little difficulty in following the writer in this descrip- 
tion of so large a part of the Maine coast. The obvious physical 
features of the country are mentioned in such a way as to be read- 
ily recognized. Of course distances are estimates only, and are 
easily exaggerated in the narrative, as is illustrated not infre- 
quently in the writings of the early voyagers upon the coast. 
The Androscoggin (Aumuckcawgen) and the Kennebec are 

1 Smith, Description of New England, 41-43. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 129 

clearly noted. So also are Casco (Aucocisco) bay and Old 
Orchard bay under the Indian name Sowocotuck ; together with 
Accominticus (Agamenticus or York) and Passataquack (Piscata- 
qua). It has been doubted 1 if Smith's map of New England, 
accompanying his Description, was drawn from his own surveys as 
he claims. However this may be, certainly there can be no doubt 
whatever that the above description of the Maine coast is Smith's 
own work. We have the narratives of the earlier explorers upon 
the coast except that of Pfing or Hanham in 1606 ; but as they 
were obliged to cut short their work of exploration by reason of 
the approach of winter, and were on the coast only four weeks, as 
is conjectured from all the available facts in the absence of dates, 
it is probable that they could not have made any such extended 
examination of the coast as that made by Captain Smith, espe- 
cially as the explorations of Pring and Hanham determined the 
location of the Popham colony at the mouth of the Kennebec — a 
work that in the short period available for exploration would 
necessarily be confined to that part of the Maine coast that is in 
the vicinity of the mouth of the Kennebec, where the settlement 
was made. 

In his mention of "The Landmarks" Captain Smith, referring 
to the islands, says: "The highest, or Sorico [is] in the bay of 
Penobscot ; but the three isles and a rock of Matinnack are much 
further in the sea. Metinicus is also three plain isles and a rock, 
betwixt it and Monahigan ; Monahigan is a round high isle ; and 
close by it, Monanis, betwixt which is a small harbor where we 
ride. In Damerils isles is such another. Sagadahock is known 
by Satquin, and four or five isles in the mouth. Smith's isles 
[Isle of Shoals] are a heap together, none near them, against 
Accominticus. ' ' 2 

Monanis here has its first recorded mention, and in connection 
therewith the location of Smith's two vessels during the summer 

1 Brown, Genesis of the United States, II, 780. 

2 Smith, Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 46, 47. 



130 THE) BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE). 

of 1614 is definitely fixed. Here, also, we have the earliest men- 
tion of the Damariscove islands under the designation Dameril's 
isles. Humphrey Damerill of Boston, dying about 1650, claimed 
to own a part or all of this island. He or another of that name, 
fishing on the coast, may have used its harbor and shore privi- 
leges several years before 1614. Damaris Cove, as a variation of 
the name, appears among the various references to the island 
found in the writings of that century pertaining to matters on the 
coast of Maine. 1 

In his further description of the country, after referring to the 
mountains — "them of the Penobscot" (the Union and Camden 
mountains), the "twinkling mountain of Augocisco [Mount Wash- 
ington], and the great mountain of Sasanou" ( Agamenticus) , all 
indicated on his map, Captain Smith makes mention of the vari- 
ous kinds of trees, birds, fishes, animals, etc., that had come 
under his observation in ranging the coast. He also enlarges here 
and there on "the main staple" fish, alludes to the seasons favor- 
able for fishing, calls attention to the fertility of the soil 2 and to 
the great value of its products and refers to many other matters 
indicating the suitableness of the country for plantation and 
development. In fact, he was so favorably impressed with what 
he saw during his summer on the American coast that he wrote : 
"Of all the four parts of the world that I have yet seen not inhab- 
ited, could I have but means to transport a colony, I would rather 
live here than anywhere. ' ' 3 

1 In the words, ' 'In Damerils isles is such another", the reference is to the 
unique harbor in the outer island of the group. Thayer, Me. Hist. Society 's 
Coll., Series II, 6, 80. 

2 "The ground is so fertile, that questionless it is capable of producing any 

grain, fruits or seeds you will sow or plant But it may be not every 

kind to that perfection of delicacy; or some tender plants may miscarry, 
because the summer is not so hot, and the winter is more cold in those parts 
we have yet tried near the sea side, than we find in the same height in 
Europe or Asia. Yet I made a garden upon the top of a rocky isle in 432, 
four leagues from the main [Monhegan] in May that grew so well as it served 
us for salads in June and July." A Description of New England, Veazie 
reprint, 34, 35. 

8 lb., 28. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 131 

The summer passed — a summer that awakened in the adven- 
turous spirit of Captain John Smith bright visions of a New Eng- 
land, and the greater glory of the mother country by reason of 
England's expansion on this side of the sea. "Here nature and 
liberty", he wrote, "afford us freely which in England we want 
or it costeth us dearly. ' ' 1 His mind aglow with this thought, and 
evidently with a purpose to impress it upon the hearts of his 
countrymen, Captain Smith sailed out of Monhegan harbor as the 
summer drew to a close. The date of his sailing he does not 
give, but he records the fact that he arrived in England ' 'within 
six months" after his departure from the Downs", 2 which was in 
the month of April. He landed at Plymouth, where he informed 
Gorges concerning his venture, and gave him such an enthusiastic 
report concerning the country and its capabilities that Gorges' 
interest in English colonization on the American coast was at once 
reawakened. 3 Smith's report had the same effect upon other 
members of the Plymouth company. It was the general feeling of 
those interested in the territory of the northern colony that Cap- 
tain John Smith was the man for the task to which the Popham 
colonists proved unequal ; and forthwith negotiations with him 
were opened with reference to a new colonial undertaking. "I 
was so encouraged and assured to have the managing their author- 
ity in those parts during my life, and such large promises", wrote 
Smith, "that I engaged myself to undertake it for them". 4 

Smith disposed of his cargo of fish readily. The other vessel, 
of which Thomas Hunt was master, tarrying awhile longer at 
Monhegan, at length sailed for Spain, and the cargo was sold at 
Malaga. Before Hunt left the coast, however, thinking to make 
it difficult for Smith to accomplish his purpose to establish a col- 
ony there, 5 he seized twenty-four Indians whom he had enticed on 

1 A Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 56. 

2 General Historie, Iteration edition of 1629, Richmond, Va., 1819, II, 176. 

3 A Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 66. 
* General Historie, II, 177, 178. 

5 lb., II, 176. 



132 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE . 

board his vessel, and on his arrival at Malaga sold them "for a 
little private gain". He received punishment in part, however, 
for as Smith says, "this vile act kept him ever after from any- 
more employment to those parts": 1 but the prejudicial effects of 
Hunt's treachery must have lingered long, embittering the Indians 
against the English and attaching them even more strongly than 
hitherto to their French rivals. 

Having made an agreement with the Plymouth company to take 
the leadership in planting an English colony on the American 
coast, Smith proceeded to London to report to the adventurers at 
the metropolis the results of their undertaking under his super- 
vision. When on his arrival he announced his engagement with 
the Plymouth company, he found some who promised their assist- 
ance in this new enterprise ; but there were others, and in all 
probability those who had fitted out the two ships with which he 
had summered at Monhegan, who evidently thought that they had 
a prior claim to his services because of existing relations ; and 
they offered him employment in a similar undertaking. This 
added offer Smith was obliged to decline, on account of the agree- 
ment he had concluded with the Plymouth company. "I find my 
refusal hath incurred some of their displeasures, whose favor and 
love I exceedingly desire, if I may honestly enjoy it' ' , he wrote ; 
but he added, "though they do censure me as opposite to their 
proceedings, they shall yet still in all my words and deeds find it 
in their error, not my fault, that occasions their dislike ; for hav- 
ing engaged myself in this business to the west country, I had 
been very dishonest to have broken my promise' ' . 2 These words 

1 General Historie, II, 176. The president and council for New England, 
in A Brief Relation of the Discovery and Plantation of New England, state 
that Hunt sold "as many as he could get money for" and add : "But when 
it was understood from whence they were brought, the Friars of those parts 
took the rest from them, and kept them to be instructed in the Christian 
faith ; and so disappointed this unworthy fellow of the hopes of gain he con- 
ceived to make by this new and devilish project." Reprint in Baxter's Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 210. 

2 lb., II, 179. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 133 

are exceedingly creditable to their author. The London adven- 
turers pressed their case with urgency ; and failing to move Smith 
from his position, they proceeded to fit out four ships which were 
placed under the direction of Captain Michael Cooper, and they 
were ready for sea before the Plymouth company ' 'had made any 
provision at all", as Smith, in his disappointment over conditions 
at Plymouth, records. 

Concerning Cooper's adventure only meager details have come 
down to us. The vessels sailed in January following Smith's 
return, and arrived at Monhegan in March. Here they remained 
until June, Cooper employing his men in fishing. The four ves- 
sels taking the place of Smith's two in the preceding season, the 
little harbor at Monhegan must have presented a busy scene day 
by day, boats moving out of the harbor on their fishing trips to 
the waters around the island, and later returning heavily laden 
with their abundant catches to be cured when landed on the sandy 
beaches of the harbor. One of the vessels, a ship of three hun- 
dred tons, was sent in June directly from Monhegan to Spain 
loaded with fish, but was captured by Turks on the way. 
Another vessel, also loaded with fish, was sent to the South Vir- 
ginia colony. A third vessel returned with fish and oil to Eng- 
land, probably to London. Concerning Cooper's fourth ship 
there is no information. 1 

In the same year, 1615, Richard Hawkins, who at that time 
was president of the Plymouth company, made a voyage to the New 
England coast, leaving England in October. Only a brief record 
of his undertaking has been preserved. In all probability he 
made his way to Monhegan, and anchored in its picturesque har- 
bor. He seems to have spent some time in fishing there. Thence, 
making explorations along the coast, he visited the South Vir- 
ginia colony, and returned to England by way of Spain, whither 
he went to sell his fish. 2 

Referring to Hawkins' voyage, Gorges says, "this was all that 

1 Narrative and Critical History of America, III, 181. 

2 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 25, 26. 



134 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE- 

was done by any of us that year". 1 In 1616, there were signs of 
activity. In his Description of New England, which was pub- 
lished in London, June 18, 1616, Captain John Smith (in the 
closing pages, which were probably added to his manuscript in 
the year of publication), says, "From Plymouth this year are gone 
four or five sail, and from London as many." 2 He is careful to 
add, however, that they were not voyages with reference to colo- 
nization, but "voyages of profit" only. 

It was during this year, it is thought, that Gorges became 
owner of a vessel and sent it to the coast of Maine "under color 
of fishing and trade". Among those connected with the voyage 
was Gorges' trusted friend, Richard Vines. 8 In his account of 
this voyage, Gorges is provokingly brief, but that he received some 
encouragement from the venture is indicated in the statement that 
from those connected with it, probably Vines, he came to be 
truly informed "of so much as gave him" assurance that in time 
"he should want no undertakers". Vines is said to have landed 
at the mouth of the Saco river, where he spent the winter in the 
wigwams of the savages, then so sorely afflicted with the plague 
"that the country was in a manner left void of inhabitants". 
Vines and his company happily were unaffected by it, ' 'not one 
of them ever felt their heads to ache while they stayed there' ' . 

During the following year a voyage was made hither in the 
Nachen, a vessel of two hundred tons, commanded by Captain 
Edward Brawnde, whose account of his experience is contained in 
a letter addressed to "his worthy good friend Captain John Smith, 

1 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 26. 

2 A Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 77. 

3 Vines is supposed to have made earlier voyages to the coast of Maine. 
Ivater we find him at the mouth of the Saco, where he established himself. 
Baxter says of him, "Richard Vines was a man of high character, but, being 
an Episcopalian, was antagonistic to the Puritan rule, which was finally 
extended over the Province of Maine, hence in 1645, he removed to Barba- 
does, where he was engaged in the practice of medicine until his death in 
1651". Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine , I, 132, note; also 
II, 18, 19. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 135 

admiral of New England". Brawnde is said to have sailed from 
Dartmouth, March 8, 1616, and to have reached Monhegan, April 
20. In his letter, he makes mention of a difficulty with Sir Rich- 
ard Hawkins, who detained his boats ; but he has only good words 
concerning the country and the opportunities there afforded for 
fishing and fur traffic with the Indians, whom he describes as "a 
gentle natured people", well disposed toward the English. 1 

Meanwhile the lack of energy displayed by the Plymouth com- 
pany must have had a depressing effect upon Smith. ' 'At last, 
however", he could write, "it pleased Sir Ferdinando Gorges and 
Master Dr. Sutliffe, 2 Dean of Kxeter, to conceive so well of these 
projects and my former employments, as induced them to make a 
new adventure 3 with me in those parts, whither they have so 
often sent to their loss". A few gentlemen in London, friends 
of Smith, had a part in the enterprise, but mostly the adventurers 
were from the west country. A vessel of two hundred tons, and 
one of fifty, were secured and made ready for the voyage. Smith 
does not mention the date of his sailing from Plymouth, but he 
tells us that he had not proceeded one hundred and twenty leagues, 
when his own vessel not only lost all her masts in a storm but 
sprang aleak, and under a jury mast he returned to the harbor he 
had just left. While the smaller vessel, her captain not knowing 
of Smith's mishaps, was making her way to Monhegan, Smith 
secured a barque of sixty tons, in which June 24, with thirty men, 
he again set sail. But ill fortune a second time attended the 
undertaking, for he had not proceeded far when French privateers 
bore down upon him, and although the vessel returned to Ply- 
mouth, Smith himself was held as a captive, partly it would seem 
by the mutinous conduct of some of his subordinates. 4 After 

1 Narrative and Critical History of America, III, 181, 182. Brawnde's 
mention of Sir Richard Hawkins is an indication that the latter passed the 
winter of 1615-16 at Monhegan. 

2 Captain John Smith, General Historic, II, 205-206. 

3 He says it was in the year 1615. General Historie, II, 218. 

4 A fuller account of the affair is given in Smith's General Historie II 
209. 



136 the; beginnings OF COLONIAI, MAINE. 

various vicissitudes and brief delays in Rochelle and Bordeaux, 
he was finally liberated 1 and made his way back to Plymouth. An 
investigation of the circumstances attending the voyage was held 
at Plymouth, December 8, 1615. The result proved favorable to 
Smith, who, to use his own words, "laid by the heels" such 
"chieftains of the mutiny" as could be found. 2 

Unquestionably Smith's misfortunes in connection with his 
employment by the Plymouth company disheartened those who 
had discovered in him just such a leader as was needed in order 
successfully to plant a colony upon the American coast. Though 
he raised money in L,ondon for another venture, there was no 
enthusiasm at Plymouth for joining Smith's I,ondon friends in the 
proposed enterprise. However, he was not to be turned aside by 
the indifference of his former Plymouth associates, and he spent 
the summer of 1616 in visiting Bristol, Exeter, Barnstable, Bod- 
min, Penryn, Fowey, Millbrook, Saltash, Dartmouth, Absom, 
Totnes and the most of the gentry in Cornwall and Devonshire, 
giving them books and maps. By this help and information he 
had secured personally with reference to the fishing interests upon 
the New England coast, he endeavored to enlist support in further 
efforts. Such success attended him in this campaign of publicity, 
that, he says, a promise of twenty ships to go with him to the 
American coast in the following year was made to him ; and he 
adds that the western commissioners in behalf of themselves and 
the rest of the Plymouth company, together with those who 
should join them, contracted with him, "by articles indented 
under our hands", that in the renewing of the company's let- 
ters patent he should be nominated "Admiral of that Country" 
during his life, while the profits were to be divided between 
the patentees and Smith and his associates. Smith claimed that 
the promise was not fulfilled, "i am not the first they have 
deceived", 8 he wrote. 

1 Smith tells us that he wrote his Description of New England while a 
captive at this time. See Veazie reprint, 72. 

2 General Historie, III, 213. 
8 lb., Ill, 218. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 137 

Yet notwithstanding these many discouragements, Smith did 
not cease his activities in new world enterprises ; and in 1617, he 
succeeded in securing three vessels for another attempt at colonial 
undertakings. But the ill fortune that had attended his efforts 
since his return from Monhegan in 1614 followed him still. 
When at length his vessels were ready for the voyage, he was 
detained by contrary winds with a hundred other sail in the har- 
bor of Plymouth three months, during which time the adventurers 
of the expedition seem to have lost heart to such an extent that 
the undertaking was wholly abandoned. 1 Gorges makes no men- 
tion of Smith in any of his writings that have come down to us ; 
and now, upon this added discouragement, he evidently dismissed 
all hopes concerning the "Admiral's" availability in connection 
with English colonization upon the coast of Maine. 2 

Admirable qualities are easily discoverable in Captain John 
Smith's somewhat remarkable personality. He was resourceful, 
energetic, courageous, optomistic. He saw clearly, indeed much 
more clearly than many of his countrymen, that on this side 
of the Atlantic, England's opportunity for empire-building was 
large and inviting. But, on the other hand, he never lost sight 
of Captain John Smith. His own fortunes were ever held in full 
view. He found it difficult to abide long in harmonious relations 
with others unless the chief direction of affairs was given to him. 
Because of these defects in his temperament and character, not- 
withstanding his great services in connection with early American 
undertakings, he failed to obtain a place among the successful 
founders of states. 

But Captain John Smith, notwithstanding the many discourage- 
ments connected with his attempts to promote English interests 
on the coast of Maine, kept a watchful eye in this direction ; and 

1 Purchas his Pilgrimes, IV, 1839. 

2 In the Public Records Office, London, there is a letter of Captain John 
Smith to Lord Bacon, written in 1618, in which ' 'he offered to adventure 
with five thousand pounds 'to bring wealth, honor and a kingdom' to the 
king's prosperity' ". Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of 
Maine, I, 102. 



138 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

in his General Historie 1 he makes mention of four good ships pre- 
pared at Plymouth in 1618 for voyages thitherward. Disagree- 
ments, however, attended the fitting out of the expedition, with 
the result that so much of the season was spent in discussing these 
differences that only two of the vessels crossed the Atlantic, one 
of two hundred tons, which made a successful voyage, returning 
to Plymouth within five months, and the other of eighty tons, 
which was equally successful, and disposed of her cargo of fish at 
Bilboa, Spain. 

About the same time, evidently, Gorges sent Captain Edward 
Rocroft to Monhegan with a company he ' 'had of purpose hired 
for the service' ' , with instructions to await there the arrival of 
Captain Thomas Dermer, formerly associated with Captain John 
Smith in one of his unfortunate voyages, but who now was at 
Newfoundland. There he met the Indian Tisquantum, who, hav- 
ing been released from captivity in Spain, had succeeded in pro- 
ceeding thus far in an endeavor to return to his old home and his 
own people. His description of the country farther down the 
coast interested Dermer to such an extent that the latter pro- 
ceeded to make his way thither. While on the Maine coast, 
impressed by what he saw and by the knowledge he had gained 
concerning the great opportunities for English colonization that 
the country afforded, Dermer wrote letters to Gorges, in which he 
made mention of these impressions and suggested that a commis- 
sion should be sent to meet him there, promising to come from 
Newfoundland for a conference with such a commission if the 
suggestion should be favorably received. It was because of these 
letters that Gorges sent Rocroft to the coast of Maine in the hope 
that he would meet Dermer. On Rocroft 's arrival or soon after 
however, he fell in with a French barque of Dieppe, engaged in 
fishing and trading within what were regarded as English sover- 
eignty rights. He accordingly seized the vessel, and placing the 
French captain and his crew on his own vessel, Rocroft trans- 
ferred his crew, provisions, etc., to the captured barque. The 

1 Richmond, Va., edition 1819, II, 218. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 139 

French captain, on his arrival at Plymouth, laid his case before 
Gorges, who acted with tact in his disposal of it. Referring to 
the French captain as "being of our religion", he wrote, "I was 
easily persuaded upon his petition to give content for his loss". 1 

Rocroft, in possession of the captured barque, concluded to 
remain on the coast that winter, "being very well fitted both with 
salt, and other necessaries" ; but he soon discovered that some of 
his men had entered into a conspiracy to take his life, seize the 
vessel and seek "a new fortune where they could best make it". 
Rocroft, however, proved equal to the emergency, and arresting 
the conspirators "at the very instant that they were prepared to 
begin the massacre", he put them ashore at a place called 
"Sawaguatock" (Saco) ; and though the barque was now weakly 
manned, and "drew too much water to coast those places that by 
his instructions he was assigned to discover", without waiting for 
Dermer, he set sail for Virginia, where in a storm the vessel was 
wrecked, and where also at length Rocroft, in a quarrel, was 
killed. 2 

The conspirators did not remain long at Saco, but made their 
way to Monhegan, where they spent the long, cold winter "with 
bad lodging and worse fare' ' . One of their number died on the 
island, and the rest returned to England in a vessel sent to make 
a fishing voyage and "for Rocroft 's supply and provision". 

But meanwhile Captain John Mason, 8 then at Newfoundland, 
had advised Dermer to go to England and consult with Gorges 
and others before returning to the Maine coast. This he did, 
taking with him Tisquantum ; and because of this change in his 
plans he was not "at the usual place of fishing", namely Monhe- 

1 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 27. 

2 A Brief Relation of the Discovery and Plantation of New England by 
the President and Council for New England, 1622. Baxter, Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 212-215. 

8 Afterward prominently associated with Gorges in colonial enterprises. 
When ("Nov. 7, 1629) they divided their Province of Maine, Mason received 
that part of the grant lying between the Merrimac and Piscataqua rivers, 
which then received the name New Hampshire. Captain Mason died in I^on- 
don in 1635. 



140 ?H£ BEGINNINGS OE COIvONIAI, MAINE. 

gan, when Rocroft arrived. But when, in the spring of 1619, he 
reached the island in one of the Plymouth company's fishing ves- 
sels, he learned from the conspirators, who were still there, that 
Rocroft had gone to Virginia. Until he heard at length of the 
misfortunes that befel Rocroft there, he was hopeful of his return. 
Then he took the pinnace assigned the year before to Rocroft for 
Dermer's use, and with Tisquantum as a guide, he explored the 
coast as far as Cape Cod, returning June 23, to Monhegan, where 
on a vessel about to sail for Virginia, he placed a part of his pro- 
visions and other stores, and then, in the pinnace, he proceeded 
to follow the coast as far as Chesapeake bay. In a letter to 
Samuel Purchas, 1 Dermer gave an interesting account of his 
adventures by the way. At Cape Cod, he left Tisquantum, who 
desired now to return to his own people. On the southern part 
of Cape Cod he was taken prisoner by Indians, but fortunately 
succeeded in making his escape. At Martha's Vineyard, he met 
Kpenow, the Indian who accompanied Hobson to the American 
coast in 1614. "With him", says Dermer, "I had such confer- 
ence" that he 'gave me very good satisfaction in everything 
almost I could demand". Continuing his journey he passed 
through Long Island sound 2 "to the most westerly part where the 
coast begins to fall away southerly' ' , and thence, through New 
York bay, 8 down the coast to Virginia. Here, as was the case 
with most of his men, Dermer was "brought even unto death's 
door" by a burning fever, but recovered. In the spring of 1620, 
he returned to Monhegan, and having spent the summer in 
exploration on the coast, he again started for Virginia. At 
Martha's Vineyard he tarried to visit Kpenow; but this time, 

1 Purchas his Pilgrimes, IV, 1178, 1179. 

2 "Discovering land about thirty leagues in length heretofore taken for 
main" — the first record of a passage through the Sound. 

8 "In this place I talked with many savages, who told me of two sundry 
passages to the great sea on the west, offered me pilots, and one of them 
drew me a plot with chalk upon a chest, whereby I found it a great island, 
parted the two seas ; they report the one scarce passable for shoals, perilous 
currents, the other no question to be made of." Dermer seems to have had 
in mind a possible route to China as he records this interview. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 141 

with the Indian it was war, not peace ; and in the sudden, unex- 
pected conflict that followed his landing, all of Dermer's men 
except one were slain; and Dermer himself was so severely 
wounded in the desperate encounter, that although he managed to 
escape and reached Virginia, he died soon after his arrival. His 
death was a great loss to the northern colony. He possessed the 
confidence of Gorges and those associated with him in the affairs 
of the Plymouth company. The president and council for New 
- England in their reference to his services and death make men- 
tion of him as "giving us good content in all he undertook". 1 

From what is known of Dermer, Gorges and his associates at 
Plymouth were fully justified in their expectations concerning 
him. Such was his ability for the successful administration of 
important affairs, and such promise did he give of steadfastness 
of purpose and energy in overcoming difficulties, at the same time 
possessing considerable experience in matters pertaining to his 
country's interest upon the American coast, that hopes concern- 
ing English colonial opportunities had been happily reawakened. 
By the tidings of Dermer's death, however, these hopes again 
received an unexpected blow. 

By this time the fishing interests that centered at Monhegau 
were becoming quite prosperous. All of the prominent voyagers 
to the coast of Maine, from Gosnold's exploration in 1602, had 
emphasized the very great value of the coast fisheries. The 
waters around the island kingdom, and even those of the North 
Sea to which English fishermen were wont to repair, offered no 
such opportunity for successful fishing as the waters abont Mon- 
hegan. Plymouth and Bristol were ports from which vessels had 
long made their way "to exercise the trade of fishing". Indeed 
it was because of her fisheries that England possessed the hardy 

1 July 10, 1621, there was read before the Virginia company in London a 
relation of "Mr. Dermer's discoveries from Cape Charles to Cape Cod, up 
Delaware river and Hudson's river, being but twenty or thirty leagues from 
our plantation, and within our limits, within which rivers were found divers 
ships of Amsterdam and Horn", etc. Brown, Genesis of the United States, 
II, 877. 



142 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

and daring seamen, who won her great victory over Spain in the 
defeat of the Armada. Down to the time of Elizabeth, the for- 
eign trade of England is said to have been largely in the hands of 
German merchants. But the fishing fleets of the kingdom were 
so many schools for training experienced seamen. Plymouth was 
the birth place of great sailors and furnished men for great enter- 
prises. 1 It was a native of Plymouth, Martin Frobisher, who 
sailed from that port in 1576 to explore the coast of Labrador. It 
was from Plymouth that Sir Francis Drake in 1577 sailed on his 
celebrated voyage around the world. It was from Plymouth that 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1584 made his way to Newfoundland to 
take possession of the island and safeguard national interests in 
the name of the queen. It was from Plymouth, also, that Sir 
Walter Ralegh obtained sailors for the vessels he secured in his 
effort to plant an English colony on the American coast. Bristol, 
likewise, early had its large fishing interests and became a port 
for the supply of hardy fishermen. When Edward III invaded 
France in 1337, Bristol contributed twenty-four ships and six 
hundred and eight men, while larger London contributed twenty- 
five ships and six hundred and sixty-two men. It was from Bris- 
tol that John Cabot sailed on the voyage of discovery that fur- 
nished the basis for the English claim to the possession of so large 
a part of North America. When Captain Martin Pring, a native 
of Bristol, sailed in 1603 for the New England coast, he was sent 
thither by Master John Whitson, Master Robert Aid worth, and 
other of the chief est merchants of Bristol. Notwithstanding dis- 
couragements with reference to colonization, therefore, the mer- 
chants of Bristol and Plymouth in 1620 had at Monhegan, and 

1 Plymouth Municipal Records, R. N. Worth, F. G. S., p. 203. "Small 
however as the English ships were, they were in perfect trim ; they sailed 
two feet for the Spaniards one ; they were manned with 9000 hardy seamen, 
and their admiral was backed by a crowd of captains who had won fame in 
the Spanish seas. With him was Hawkins, who had been the first to break 
into the charmed circle of the Indies, Frobisher, the hero of the northwest 
passage; and above all Drake, who held command of the privateers." 
Green, Short History of the English People, p. 419. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. 143 

the waters near it, vessels successfully employed in fishing and in 
building up profitable trade relations with the Indians on the 
main land. 

But up to this time since the return of the Popham colonists in 
1608, nothing is heard concerning permanent settlements on the 
Maine coast. x Even of winter occupants, we have no information 
whatever, except what has come down to us concerning Vines' 
company at the mouth of the Saco in 1616 and 1617 and the 
Rocroft conspirators at Monhegan in 1618 and 1619. Captain 
John Smith, who, as already stated, carefully examined the coast 
in the summer of 1614, says: "When I went first to the north 
part of Virginia where the western colony had been planted, it 
had dissolved itself within a year, and there was not one Christian 
in all the land". 2 In his General His torie, although he refers to 
the various efforts he and others had made in the hope of estab- 
lishing a colony on the New England coast, the record for the 
most part is a record of failures. Books, pamphlets, maps, he 
freely distributed among his countrymen as he went hither and 
thither, spending nearly a year in these busy endeavors to estab- 
lish plantations in so goodly a land as he described ; but it was of 
no avail. One might as well, "try to hew rocks with oyster 
shells", he said, as to induce merchants and others to furnish 
funds for colonization undertakings. 8 

1 "It is well known that this [Pemaquid] was a gathering place for voy- 
agers, fishermen and temporary sojourners from the later part of the six- 
teenth century. ' ' Report of the Commissioners in charge of the Remains 
of the Ancient Fortifications at Pemaquid, Dec. 13, 1902. There is no 
foundation whatever for this statement. The earliest mention of Pemaquid 
by any voyager is in connection with Waymouth's voyage of 1605. As to 
fishermen and fishing vessels at Pemaquid, neither de Monts nor Waymouth, 
who were on the coast in the summer of 1605 report any. In the Relation of 
the colonists, 1607-8, there is no mention of either men or vessels at Pema- 
quid. They visited the Indians there, but found no "voyagers, fishermen 
and temporary sojourners". In fact, it was late in the first quarter of the 
seventeenth century before any such gathering at Pemaquid could have been 
reported. 

2 True Travels, Adventures and Observations, Arber's reprint, 1884, 89. 

3 Richmond, Va., E)d. 1819, II, 220. 



CHAPTER IX. 

^ The Fight for Free Fishing. 

BUT while Gorges and those associated with him in the admin- 
istration of the affairs of the northern colony had failed in 
all of their efforts to plant permanent settlements on the 
coast of Maine, the southern colony in Virginia, notwithstanding 
many difficulties, had succeeded in obtaining there a firm foot- 
hold. But the Virginia colonists lacked the fishing privileges that 
attracted their own vessels, as well as vessels from England, to 
the waters in the vicinity of Monhegan ; and they desired to 
extend their boundaries farther north so as to bring the fisheries 
of the northern colony within their own limits. Accordingly, 
after the breaking up of the Popham colony, the council of Vir- 
ginia wrote to the mayor and aldermen of Plymouth 1 inviting 
them, inasmuch as on account of "the coldness of the climate and 
other connatural necessities" their "good beginnings" had not 
"so well succeeded as so worthy intentions and labors did merit", 
to unite with them in their efforts farther down the coast, where 
the conditions, as they viewed them, were more favorable. But 
the members of the Plymouth company, although greatly disap- 
pointed and discouraged by the return of the Popham colonists to 
England, were not ready to abandon their interests. I/mg con- 
tinued ill success, however, had had a depressing effect upon all 
of them, and Captain John Smith, in recording his experiences in 
connection with the Plymouth company, had some reason for his 
assertion that the charter of the company was virtually dead. 2 

Nevertheless, it was not dead ; but there was need of the influ- 
ence of new forces, and a revival of colonial interests in the west- 

1 Calendar of the Plymouth Municipal Records, R. N. Worth, F. G. S., 203. 

2 General Historic, Richmond, Va., Ed. II, 177. 



THE FIGHT FOR FREE FISHING. 145 

ern countries of England, if anything was to be accomplished in 
connection with the charter. Some important lessons had been 
learned from the London or South Virginia company, which twice 
(in 1609 and 1612) had secured an enlargement of its privileges, 
and was now enjoying considerable prosperity. Accordingly, an 
application for a like enlargement was made by the Plymouth 
company March 3, 1619. After mention of the "great charge 
and extreme hazard" that had attended the efforts of the company 
in its continued endeavor to discover a place fit to entertain such 
a design , as also to find the means to bring to pass so noble a 
work", the company asked for like privileges as the Virginia 
company. 1 In response to this request a warrant was obtained for 
a patent giving to the adventurers of the northern colony ' 'like 

liberties, privileges, powers, authorities, lands as were 

heretofore granted to the company of Virginia' ' , with an excep- 
tion as to freedom of customs. 2 

Notwithstanding opposition on the part of the Virginia com- 
pany, a patent, known as the "Great Patent of New England", 
was issued by James I, November 3, 1620, to the "Council estab- 
lished at Plymouth in the County of Devon, for the planting, rul- 
ing, ordering and governing of New England in America' ' . 3 

Gorges, who had been prominent in the affairs of the Plymouth 
company, as long as it had any affairs, was no less prominent in 
this new movement, cherishing the hope that he might yet secure 
the ends at which he had aimed with so much labor and loss. 
Evidently he had given to many men of influence within his circle 
of friends sound reasons for securing an enlargement of privileges 
by a re-incorporation of the Plymouth company; but now, he 
says, "I was bold to offer the sounder considerations to divers of 
his majesty's honorable privy council, who had so good liking 
thereunto, as they willingly became interested themselves therein 

1 Famham Papers, I, 15-18. 

2 lb., 18, 19. 

3 lb., 20-45. 

10 



146 THK BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE). 

as patentees and counselors for the managing of the business, by 
whose favors I had the easier passage in the obtaining his 
majesty's royal charter to be granted us according to his warrant 
to the then solicitor-general." 1 This proposed re-incorporation 
of the Plymouth company, whose territorial limits were from the 
thirty-eighth degree north latitude to the forty-fifth, changed 
those limits so that they included the territory from the fortieth 
degree to the forty-eighth, and from the Atlantic westward to the 
Pacific. Its affairs were entrusted to forty-eight patentees, thir- 
teen of whom were peers of the realm, and all men of distinction. 
They were to have not only the planting, ruling and governing 
of this vast territory, but they were also "to have and to hold, 
possess and enjoy" the firm lands, soils, grounds, havens, ports, 
rivers, waters, fishings, mines and minerals, as well royal mines 
of gold and silver, or other mine and minerals, precious stones, 
quarries and all, and singular other commodities, jurisdictions, 
royalties, privileges, franchises and pre-eminencies, both within 
the same tract of land upon the main, and also within the said 
islands and seas adjoining. 2 No other of the king's subjects could 
enter and visit any of the ports of New England in America, or 
trade or traffic therein, without a license from the council for New 
England on penalty of the forfeiture of both ships and goods. 

To a certain extent monopolies had flourished during the reign 
of Queen Elizabeth. In fact, toward the close of her reign, they 
flourished to such an extent that, as Macaulay 8 says, "There was 
scarce a family in the realm which did not feel itself aggrieved by 
the oppression and extortion which this abuse naturally caused. 
Iron, oil, vinegar, coal, saltpetre, lead, starch, yarn, skins, leather, 
glass, could be bought only at exhorbitant prices". This condi- 
tion of affairs aroused strong opposition and in the Parliament of 
1601, the first great battle with monopoly was successfully fought 

1 Gorges, Briefe Narration. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of 
Maine, II, 30, 31. 

2 Farnham Papers, I, 33. 

3 History of England, I, 49. 



THF FIGHT FOR FRFF FISHING. 147 

in the House of Commons, the queen, with admirable tact, plac- 
ing herself at the head of the party redressing the grievance, and 
leaving to her successor, says Macaulay, "a memorable example 
of the way to deal with public movements". 

But James, a stout asserter of royal prerogatives, did not fol- 
low Elizabeth's wise, tactful example. Gorges, who was a most 
devoted royalist, had the king's ear, as well as the ears of those 
nearest to the throne ; and in the patent of 1620, a gigantic mon- 
opoly was created. In the patent of 1606, the privilege of "fish- 
ings' ' was conferred upon the patentees ; but this may have 
meant "fishings" in rivers and ponds only, and not in the seas 
adjoining the main. In the patent of 1620, however, the words 
"seas adjoining" 1 are used in connection with the privileges 
granted, and "sea waters" in connection with "fishings". 

The southern, or Virginia company, was the first to protest 
against such a denial of the rights of free fishing on the seas. 
Early information concerning the privileges for which Gorges and 
his associates asked seems to have reached the members of the 
Virginia company ; and the treasurer of the company, Sir Edwin 
Sandys, at a meeting held on March 15th, only a few days after 
Gorges and his associates made their request for a new charter, 
called the attention of the members of the company to the pur- 
poses of the northern company ; and a committee was appointed 
to appear before the privy council on the following day, and pro- 
test against this attempt to overthrow the right of free fishing on 
the New England coast. 2 

At the interview, Gorges was present. As a result of the con- 
ference, the matter at issue was referred to two members of the 
council, the duke of Lennox and the earl of Arundell, both of 
whom were interested in the re-incorporation of the Plymouth 
company. In their report they suggested and recommended a 
modification of the charter, so that each company should have the 
right to fish within the limits of the other, with the provision that 

1 Famham Papers, I, 33. 

2 Narrative and Critical History of the United States , III, 297. 



148 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

such fishing should be "for the sustentation of the people of the 
colonies there". This was not acceptable to either company, and 
when, July 21, 1620, the matter again came before the privy 
council, its members confirmed the recommendation of March 16 ; 
and July 23, 1620, the warrant for the preparation of a patent for 
the northern company was granted by the king, and the issue of 
the great patent of New England followed, November 3, 1620. 

But the South Virginia company was not the only party affected 
by the monopoly thus created. Far heavier was the blow that 
now fell on the merchants of Plymouth, Bristol and other western 
ports of England, whose vessels in increasing numbers now made 
their way annually to Monhegan and Damariscove. As from the 
ancient harbor of Plymouth, known as Sutton's Pool 1 — whence 
the Mayflower colony sailed in 1620 2 — fishing vessels at the pres- 

1 Plymouth is on the south side of the river Plym, and was called by the 
Saxons Tameorworth, afterwards Sutton or South-Town, and was divided 
into Sutton Prior and Sutton Ralph. As far back as 1383, it had occasion- 
ally received the name of Plymouth and in a petition to Parliament in 1411, 
it is called Sutton. In the reign of Henry II it was little more than a 
small fishing village ; but in 1253 it had grown into such importance that a 
market was established there. In 1377, only three towns in England had a 
larger population, viz., London, York and Bristol. Historical, Practical and 
Theoretical Account of the Breakwater in Plymouth Sound, by Sir John 
Rennie, F. R. S., 5. 

2 There is no spot in Plymouth, England, of so great interest to a native 
of New England, as the pier whence the Mayflower sailed on her mem- 
orable voyage. For many years before 1620, hardy Plymouth fishermen 
had passed this entrance to Sutton's Pool, as they left Plymouth on 
their way to Monhegan and the waters of the Maine coast. In the pavement 
in the middle of the pier is this record : 

Mayflower, 
1620 

In the wall on the seaward side of the pier a bronze tablet bears this 
inscription : — 

"On the 6th of September, 1620, in the mayoralty of Thomas Townes, 
after being kindly entertained and courteously used by divers friends there 
dwelling, the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from Plymouth in the Mayflower, in 
the Providence of God, to settle in New England and to lay the foundation 
of the New England States. The ancient causeway whence they embarked 



THF, FIGHT FOR FRFF FISHING. 149 

ent time sail out of its narrow entrance on their way to their 
accustomed fishing grounds, so was it then. So also was it with 
fishing vessels then, as now, at Bristol, whence John Cabot sailed 
on his voyage of discovery in 1497. For nearly a score of years 
at least the great value of the fisheries on the coast of Maine had 
been sufficiently attested to the people of England by both explor- 
ers and fishermen, and the little harbor at Monhegan, and that at 
Damariscove, as well as the waters about these islands, presented 
busy scenes as vessels from English ports came hither with each 
opening spring. Not only, therefore, did this assault upon free 
fishing call forth the protest of the Virginia colonists, but it 
aroused a feeling of intense indignation on the part of the mer- 
chants and fishermen connected with the fishing interests of the 
western counties of England; and with united voices they 
insisted, "Fishing is free!" The state of feeling in Plymouth 
and vicinity found strong expression in the following letter 1 
addressed to Cranfield, the lord treasurer, February 12, 1621 : 

It pleased your honor upon the motion of Sir Warwick 
Hele, to signify your pleasure that our ships bound on their 
fishing voyages for the northern parts of Virginia should 
not be stayed, or interrupted in their proceedings as was 
by some intended, for which your humble favor the inhabi- 
tants of this town, and others in these western parts do 
acknowledge themselves much bound to your lordship; 
yet seeing some threats have been given out by Sir Ferdi- 
nando Gorges, either to disturb the poor men in their pres- 
ent voyages, or to procure their trouble in their return, and 
being that it is suspected he is now in pursuit of such his 
intention; we, being assured that no such thing can be 

was destroyed not many years afterwards ; but the site of their embarkation 
is marked by the stone bearing- the name of the Mayflower in the pavement 
of the adjacent pier. This tablet was erected in the mayoralty of J. T. 
Bond, 1891, to commemorate their departure and the visit to Plymouth in 
July of that year of a number of their descendants and representatives." 
1 Public Records Office, London, I. S. P. Dom. James I, V, 127, 92. 



150 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

effected, but your honor must have notice thereof, both in 
respect your lordship is a patentee in that patent for New 
England, as also in regard of your other honorable places, 
we humbly beseech your lordship that you would be 
pleased to give order that nothing be done against us in 
this business till we have been heard both for the interest 
we have in regard of your former adventures and employ- 
ments that way, and the general estate of these western 
parts of the realm, having little or no other means left them 
for employment of their people and shipping. Humbly 
submitting the consideration hereof to your honor's grave 
wisdom do in all duty remain, 

Your honor's to be commanded, 

John Bownd, Mayor. 
Robert Rawlin, Thomas Sherwill, James Bagg, Nicholas 
Sherwill, Leonard Pomery, Thomas Townes, John Scob- 
bett. 

Plymouth, this 12th of February, 1621. 
The feeling was intense not only in Plymouth, but in Bristol 
and other seaport towns. The monopoly thus created meant to 
each English fishing vessel on the New England coast a charge of 
about eighty-three cents a ton, which, considering the probable 
average size of the fishing vessels of the period, was a demand of 
more than a hundred dollars for each vessel. 1 Moreover, the 
right to take wood for the erection of stages and other uses was 
denied, a matter of importance to all fishing vessels making their 
way hither. In response to this popular uprising against Gorges 
and his associates, the House of Commons, more responsive to 
popular feeling than ever before, became the field on which was 
to be fought the battle in behalf of the immemorial right of every 
Englishman to free fishing upon the seas. 

1 Sabine, Report on the Principal Fisheries of the American Seas, 43. In 
1623, Melshare Bennett of Barnstable, England, paid to the Plymouth 
Council 161^, 13s, 4d, for a fishing license for his ship Eagle, Witheridge, 
master. The vessel was on the coast of Maine that season. Me. Hist. 
Society 's Coll., Series I, 5, 186, note 2. 



THF, FIGHT FOR FRFE FISHING. 151 

For the first time in seven years Parliament met January 16, 
1621. The matter of monopoly received early attention, and, 
April 17 following, an act was introduced, entitled "An act for 
the freer liberty of fishing and fishing voyages, to be made and 
performed on the sea-coasts and places of Newfoundland, Virginia 
and New England and other coasts and parts of America' ' .* Dis- 
cussion followed April 25, and was opened by Sir Edwin Sandys. 
Two colonies, the northern and southern, he said, had been 
granted land in America. . The southern colony, at an expense of 
one hundred thousand pounds, had established a foothold there. 
The northern colony had not been as successful; but it now 
desired to proceed in its territory known as New England, on 
whose coast there is fishing twice a year and far better than at 
Newfoundland. As the new patent of this company confers upon 
the patentees the sole right to fish there, the attention of the king 
has been called to the matter and he has stayed the delivery of the 
patent. By reason of the monopoly thus secured English fisher- 
men are denied their free fishing rights, a loss to them and to the 
nation ; for the privilege costs the kingdom nothing, while these 
fisheries give employment to men and ships and secure a profita- 
ble cash trade with Spain, fish being an article of food that can 
lawfully be carried to Spanish ports. He therefore moved "free 
liberty for all the king's subjects for fishing there", saying it was 
pitiful that Englishmen should be denied a liberty enjoyed by 
French and Dutch, who come and will fish there notwithstanding 
the company's monopoly ; and he added, "The northern company 
also prohibiteth timber and wood, which is of no worth there, and 
they take away the salt the merchants leave". 

Mr. Glanvyle, continuing the debate, thought there should be 
some government control of the fishermen, who "spoil havens 
with casting out ballast", etc. 

Secretary Calvert said the sub-committee had not heard the 
other side. The fishermen are hinderers of the plantations. 

1 Journal of the House of Commons, I, 591, 592. The discussion is 
reported in brief as was the custom at that early period. 



152 THK BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE- 

"They burn a great store of wood and choke the havens", as 
mentioned. While he would not strain the king's prerogative 
against the good of the commonwealth, at the same time he did 
not think it fit to make laws for those countries that have not as 
yet been annexed to the crown. 

Mr. Neale said that at least three hundred vessels had gone to 
Newfoundland this year out of these parts. Earlier complaints 
had been made to the lords of the council. Not public good but 
private gains were sought by the monopolists. From the time of 
Edward VI there had been liberty for all subjects to fish in 
American waters. In various ways the fishermen had been hin- 
dered. Iyondon merchants, by restraining trade, and imposing 
Upon trade, undo all trade. 

Mr. Guy thought the L,ondon merchants were to be commended, 
"howsoever their greediness in other things" was an occasion for 
complaint. He claimed that the king by his great seal had 
already done as much as could be done by the act now before the 
House. Provision might be made for the fishermen to secure 
wood and timber. 

Mr. Brooks said, "We may make laws here for Virginia; for if 
the king consents to this bill, passed here and by the lords, such 
action will control the patent". 

It was then voted to commit the bill to Sir Edwin Sandys for 
a hearing upon the matter by the burgesses of Iyondon, York and 
the seaport towns — "all that will come to have voice, this day 
seven-night exchequer chamber". So far as is known, this meet- 
ing was not reported ; but that it was held hardly admits of doubt, 
so strong was the popular feeling in the communities interested in 
the proposed bill. 

May 24, 1621, Mr. Earle reported the bill for free fishing upon 
the coast of America, also amendments, which, with the bill, were 
twice read. 1 Mr. Guy claimed that the bill pretended to make 
fishing free, but in fact it took this liberty away from those who 
had established themselves at Newfoundland. This, Mr. Neale 

1 Journal of the House of Commons, I, 626. 



THF, FIGHT FOR FRFF FISHING. 153 

denied. Secretary Calvert again raised the objection that the bill 
was "not proper for this House, because it concerned America". 
The fishermen must be ruled by laws. He would have the word 
"unlawful" added to the word "molestation". This was done. 
After added discussion by Sir Edward Sandys and Sir Edward 
Gyles, the bill was recommitted. 

Further action with reference to the bill was delayed, however, 
by a message received by the House of Commons from the House 
of I^ords June 4, 1621, conveying the information that the king, 
under the great seal of England, had sent a commission adjourn- 
ing Parliament until November 14. The commission had been 
read and the House of IyOrds had adjourned. It was his majesty's 
pleasure, it was added, that all matters before Parliament should 
be left in the same state as at present. The announcement evi- 
dently greatly embittered the opponents of the king, and Sir Rob- 
ert Philips objected to the reading of the king's missive. Then, 
according to the journal of the House of Commons, "Mr. Speaker 
letteth them know that this House taketh [notice] of his majesty's 
pleasure, by his commission for the adjournment of Parliament, 
and that [the] House will adjourn itself accordingly". After 
proceedings expressive of indignation and even derision, 1 the 
speaker declared the House adjourned until November 14, 1621. 

Notwithstanding the strong opposition to the patent in that it 
gave the sole right of fishing on the American coast to the patent- 
ees, the privy council, November 18, passed an order delivering 
the patent to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, with a provision that both 
the northern and southern companies should have like freedom 
for drying nets, taking and curing fish, also wood for necessary 
uses ; the patent to be renewed in accordance with these premises, 
and the southern company to have the privilege of examining the 

1 ''Then Sir Edw. Coke, standing up, desired the House to say [after him] 
and he recited the collect for the King and his children, with some altera- 
tion : — 

"O Almighty God, which hath promised to be" — 

Journal of the House of Commons, I, 639. 



154 the beginnings of colonial maine. 

patent before it was engrossed and delivered to the patentees. 1 
Parliament reassembled in November according to adjournment, 
and November 20, it being represented that Gorges had executed a 
patent since the recess, 2 and had by letters from the lords of the 
council not only stayed 3 the fishing vessels ready to sail but had 
' 'threatened to send out ships to beat them off from their free fish- 
ing", Mr. Glanvyle moved to speed the bill for free fishing on the 
coast of America. Sir Bdward Coke also asked that the patent 4 
should be laid before the committee for grievances. 5 

June 1, 1621, the council for New England had issued a pat- 
ent to John Pierce and his associates — the patent for the May- 
flower colonists. Furthermore, the king, influenced by Captain 
John Mason, 6 who was now in L,ondon, had requested Gorges in 
"a gracious message" to have the council for New England con- 
vey the northern part of the territory he had granted to the coun- 
cil for New England to Sir William Alexander, which was done 
and it was confirmed to him by a royal charter, September 10, 
1621, the territory receiving the designation Nova Scotia. 7 Evi- 
dently it was supposed, that though the New England patent had 

1 Narrative and Critical History of the United States, III, 299. 

2 The reference is to the Pilgrim patent which was granted to John Pierce 
June 1, 1621, by the council for New England, not by Gorges. Doubtless 
its source was attributed to Gorges because he was so prominent in the coun- 
cil's affairs, and also because of his prominence in securing the patent. In 
this patent, the Pilgrims received "free liberty to fish in and upon the coast 
of New England" — a recognition of the council's monopoly. Strictly stated 
the patent was issued three days before the recess occurred. 

3 "This was true", said Sir W. Heale; "but my lord treasurer hath given 
order that the ships shall go forth presently without stay". Journal of the 
House of Commons, I, 641. 

4 The reference is to the great patent for New England. 
h Journal of the House of Commons, I, 646. 

6 He had been governor of a plantation in Newfoundland. His term of 
office having expired, he returned to England. For an extended account of 
his various activities, especially later in connection with interests of Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges on this side of the Atlantic, see Captain John Mason, 
edited by John Ward Dean and published by the Prince Society, Boston, 1887. 

7 Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 55, 56. 



?H£ FIGHT FOR FRF3 FISHING. 155 

passed the seals, its delivery to the council for New England had 
been stopped pending the consideration of the grievances it had 
called forth and which had been received by the House of Com- 
mons. The bill for free fishing was again before the House on 
December 1, 1621, when Mr. Guy tendered a proviso in "parch- 
ment", insisting that the bill took away "trade of fishing from 
those who are inhabitants of Newfoundland". Secretary Calvert 
was of the opinion that without this proviso the bill would never 
receive the royal assent. Mr. Sherwell and Mr. Glanvyle were 
opposed to the proviso and it was rejected. The bill was then 
passed. 

On December 18, the House of Commons summoned Sir Ferdi- 
nando Gorges and Sir John Bowcer "to appear here the first day 
of the next access and to bring their patent or a copy thereof. 
Parliament then adjourned. 

Until February 19, 1624, there is no record in the journal of the 
House of Commons after December 18, 1621. The reason is not 
far to seek. On that day, the members of the House, alleging 
that the king had threatened that body for exercising liberty of 
speech, entered in the journal their famous "Protestation", in 
which they declared "That the liberties, franchises, privileges 
and jurisdictions of Parliament are the ancient and undoubted 
birthright and inheritance of the subjects of England, and that 
the arduous and urgent affairs concerning the king, state and 
defence of the realm, and of the Church of England, and the 
making and maintenance of laws and redress of grievances, 
which daily happen within this realm, are proper subjects and 
matter of council and debate in Parliament' ' . 2 The significance 
of this declaration the king clearly saw, and he answered it 
with a characteristic exhibition of passion. Having sent for the 

1 Journal of the House of Commons, I, 668, 669. Gorges (Baxter, Sir Ferdi- 
nando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 35-43) says he appeared three 
times before the House of Commons concerning this free fishing matter (the 
second and third time with counsel), and gives quite a vivid account of the 
proceedings in connection with his appearance. 

2 Green, Shorter History of the English People, 492, 493. 



156 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

journal, he tore out the pages 1 on which the "Protestation" was 
recorded, saying, "I will govern according to the common weal, 
but not according to the common will". This, however, was not 
the limit of the king's exhibition of temper. Having dissolved 
Parliament he immediately proceeded to inflict punishment upon 
the most conspicuous leaders of the House of Commons. Sir 
Edward Coke and Sir Robert Philips were committed to the 
Tower, while those less conspicuous were made to feel the weight 
of his displeasure in other places of confinement. 

But Gorges and those associated with him in the council for 
New England, while recognizing "these troubles" as "unfortu- 
nately falling out", 2 still relied on the assistance of the king in 
maintaining their charter privileges, especially as Parliament had 
been dissolved, and they no longer felt the restraints of popular 
feeling manifested in the House of Commons. Meanwhile, how- 
ever, without securing license from the council, fishermen were 
taking fish as formerly in the waters in the vicinity of Monhegan 
and Damariscove ; and the council adopted measures for bringing 
"these troubles", if possible, to an end. Robert Gorges, 3 a 
younger son of Sir Ferdinando, was sent over to New England as 
governor and lieutenant general of the territory conveyed to them 
by their patent ; and hither, also, came Captain Francis West, 

1 "The Commons put themselves on their strongest ground, when they 
entered in the journals of the House a just and sober protestation of their 
privilege to speak freely on all subjects. James put himself as much as pos- 
sible in the wrong when he sent for the book and tore out the page with his 
own hand". Trevelyan, England under the Stuarts , 127. 

2 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 225. 

3 He brought with him a patent from the council for New England, 
granted November 3, 1622 for "all that part of the main land in New Eng- 
land aforesaid, commonly called or known by the name of Messachusiack 
[Massachusetts] for ten miles in a straight line towards the north- 
east and thirty English miles unto the main land to 

be executed according to the great charter of England and such laws as 
shall hereafter be established by public authority of the state assembled in 
Parliament in New England". Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 51-54. 
The return of Robert Gorges to England, after a brief stay, led to the 
abandonment of this patent. 



THF, FIGHT FOR FRFF FISHING. 157 

who was made admiral of New England, and Rev. William Mor- 
rell, who was to superintend the establishment of churches in 
New England in connection with the Church of England. Brad- 
ford 1 says West preceded Gorges, arriving at the end of June, 
1623, while Governor Gorges reached the coast in the middle of 
September. 2 West had authority "to restrain interlopers, and 
such fishing ships as come to fish and trade without a license from 
the council of New England, for which they should pay a round 
sum of money. But he could do no good of them, for they were 
too strong for him, and he found the fishermen to be stubborn 
fellows" . 3 Unable to accomplish anything, therefore, West 4 made 
his way back to England not long after, as also did Gorges, 
"having scarcely saluted the country in his government", says 
Bradford, "not finding the state of things here to answer to his 
quality and condition' ' . 5 

King James' fourth Parliament assembled February 19, 1624. 
March 15 following, "An act for the freer liberty of fishing", pre- 
viously introduced, 6 was committed to a large committee on griev- 
ances, of which Sir Edward Coke was chairman. Two days later 
the committee reported 7 that it had condemned one grievance, 
namely, that occasioned by Sir Ferdinando Gorges' patent. 8 Coun- 

1 Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, 178. 

2 Bradford, lb., 169. 

3 lb., 169, 170. 

4 West accompanied Newport to Virginia in 1608, and was elected a mem- 
ber of the council in the following year. He was commander at Jamestown 
many years. Having returned to England, he received the appointment 
that brought him to New England in 1623. After he returned to England, 
he again went to Virginia, where he was elected governor in 1627, and was 
continued in office until March 5, 1627. He is not mentioned in Virginia 
records after February, 1633. A Colonel Francis West was lieutenant of the 
Tower in London in 1645, and he may be the one to whom reference is here 
made. Brown, Genesis of the United States, II, 1047. 

5 Bradford, History, 184. 

6 The bill, passed by the House of Commons, December 1, 1621, was not 
acted upon by the House of Lords and so failed. 

7 fournal of the House of Commons, I, 688. 

8 Here, also, the reference is to the great patent for New England. See 
Journal of the House of Commons, I, 738. 



158 THE BEGINNINGS OF COIyONIAI, MAINS. 

sel for Gorges were heard. As to the clause in the patent, dated 
November 3, 1620, that no subject of England shall visit the 
coast upon pain of forfeiture of the ship and goods, 1 the patentees 
had yielded ; the English fishermen were not to be interrupted, 
and were to have the privilege of drying their nets, salting their 
fish, and of whatever was "incident to their fishing", including 
necessary wood and timber. 

That the council for New England had yielded, however, did 
not satisfy its opponents in the House of Commons. They wished 
by higher authority to make void the objectionable clauses in the 
patent. When, therefore, the bill came up for final action in the 
House, May 3, 1624, Sir Edward Coke maintained in the debate 
that the part of the patent forbidding free fishing should be con- 
demned ; that it made "a monopoly upon the sea which [was] 
wont to be free, that it was a monopoly attempted of the wind 
and sun by the sole packing and drying of fish' ' . Secretary Cal- 
vert said that "free fishing, prayed for by this bill, overthrows all 
plantations in those countries". In other words, it was of no 
advantage for the patentee to hold lands on the New England 
coast unless the fishing rights in the adjoining coast waters were 
his. All opposition, however, proved unavailing. At the close 
of the debate, the amendments proposed by the opponents of the 
bill were rejected and the bill was passed. 2 

Evidently it was not expected by the members of the House of 
Commons that the Lords would sustain this action, or take any 
notice of it ; and on May 28, 1624, the House addressed a letter to 
the king calling his attention to the grievances they had sustained, 
and its source in the king's patent of November 3, 1620, whereby 
all his subjects visiting that part of the coast of New England to 
which English fishing vessels were wont to resort were forbidden 
to fish without a license from the patentees on penalty of a for- 
feiture of ship and goods. The trade of fishing, the Commons 
maintained, was a most beneficial one for the realm. Shipping 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 37. 

2 Journal of the House of Commons, I, 795. 



the; fight for free fishing. 159 

thereby was enlarged ; there was an increase in the number of 
seamen, and the commerce of the kingdom was more widely 
extended ; furthermore, the council had agreed to relinquish the 
monopoly which the great patent created, and of which complaint 
had been made. It was asked, therefore, that the king would be 
pleased to declare the patent, so far as free fishing was forbidden, 
also the incidents thereunto, including the confiscation of ships 
and goods, together with the restraints and penalties that followed, 
' 'void and against your laws and never hereafter to be put in exe- 
cution". 1 

If James I paid any attention to this address, there is no known 
record of the fact. The king evidently was not in a mood for any 
such action on his part. He could not, or would not, read the 
handwriting on the wall. But Gorges and his associates in the 
council for New England kept their promise to the House of Com- 
mons ; and the English fishermen in the vicinity of Monhegan 
were allowed to continue their labors unmolested. The battle in 
their interest had been won, and not only had the voice of the 
people been heard in the voice of the House of Commons, but it 
had been recognized and heeded. Both were voices that were 
soon to become more and more insistent, and with reference to 
larger popular demands. 

1 I. S. P. Domestic, James I, Vol. CLXV, 53, Public Records Office, Lon- 
don. This document has received no attention from English historians. 
It has this title : ' 'Address of the House of Commons, presenting the 
grievances of which they request redress, viz. : I. Sir Ferd. Gorges' patent 
for sole fishing on the coasts of New England, May 28, 1624. Against a 
patent restraining fishing on the sea coast of New England." On the back 
of the leaf are the words, "The petition to the king to moderate Sir Ferdi- 
nando Gorges' patent". Plainly it was the denial that fishing is free that 
made the fishing grievance the most prominent of all the grievances to 
which the House of Commons directed attention. 



CHAPTER X. 

Various Schemes and IvKvett's Explorations. 

NATURALLY during this battle royal for free fishing, the 
council for New England, notwithstanding its new char- 
ter privileges, was not making any progress in establish- 
ing settlements upon the Maine coast. In fact, as has already 
appeared, the affairs of the council were in a very languishing 
condition. Its members, or, more accurately, some of its mem- 
bers, including Gorges, were still considering plans for obtaining 
funds with which to advance colony planting ; but their schemes 1 
were not received with favor. Indeed, while they were being 
put forth, "and likely to have taken a good foundation", says the 
council, "the news of the Parliament flew to all parts, and then 
the most factious of every place presently combined themselves to 
follow the business in Parliament, where they presumed to prove 
the same to be a monopoly, and much tending to the prejudice of 
the common good". 2 

One of these schemes had reference to a settlement forty miles 
square, "the most convenient upon the river Sagadahoc", to be 
called the "State County", the city and county to be equally 
divided amongst the patentees, who shall cast lots for their sev- 
eral shares". 3 It was evidently a dream of Gorges, of which the 
reader will be reminded at a later period in Sir Ferdinando's for- 
tunes, when, upon the foundation of Agamenticus, he sought to 
rear the elaborate structure of Gorgeana. The ' 'State County' ' on 
the Kennebec was a dream and a dream only. 

1 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 222, 223. 

2 lb., I, 224. 

3 Records of the Council for New England in Proceedings of the American 
Antiquarian Society, April 24, 1867, 84, 85. "As for the name of the city, 
the council will be humble petitioners unto the king's majesty to give the 
same." 



VARIOUS SCHEMES AND LEVETT'S EXPI^O RATIONS. 161 

Indeed, up to this time, 1622, there is no evidence whatever 
that English settlers had gained a single foothold on any part of 
what is now the coast of Maine. Extravagant claims have been 
made, especially in behalf of Pemaquid, but an examination of 
these claims reveals their worthlessness. They have been well 
summarized in these words : "it is alleged that Englishmen made 
seizure of its [Pemaquid] soil, and introduced colonial life a 
dozen years anterior to the patent of John Pierce [1621]. By 
rare power of vision a ship' was seen to enter St. John's bay ; a 
withered colony was landed, planted, and so nursed and guarded 
as to maintain life. Errant fancy on wings of theory, gathering 
dismembered facts, has built up a showy fabric, though unsub- 
stantial." * 

In support of this claim of an early settlement at Pemaquid it is 
said that there were "granaries" there, and accordingly settlers, 
from whom the Pilgrims received supplies in a time of food dis- 
tress. The reference is to the conditions at Plymouth in 1622. 
The Pilgrims were in need, and their pressing necessities were 
met, but not from "granaries" at Pemaquid. Both Bradford and 
Winslow tell the story, the latter in greater fulness as he was the 
one who secured the supplies that relieved the distress of the Pil- 
grims, "it was about the end of May, 1622", he writes, "at 
which time our store of victuals was wholly spent, having lived 
long before with a bare and short allowance' ' . In this exigency 
it was suggested to the sufferers that help might be received from 
the fishing vessels at the eastward ; and at the request of the gov- 
ernor, Winslow proceeded thither, finding at Damariscove island, 
near Monhegan, "above thirty sail of ships". From the masters 
of these English fishing vessels Winslow received kind entertain- 
ment, he says, and generous food supplies. Payment for these 
the masters declined, doing "what they could freely, wishing 
their store had been such as they might in greater measure have 
expressed their own love, and supplied our necessities ; for which 
they sorrowed, provoking one another to the utmost of their abili- 

1 Thayer, Me. Hist. Society's Coll., Series II, 6, 64, 65. 
11 



162 the; beginnings of colonial maine;. 

ties, which, although it was not much amongst so many a people 
as were at the plantation, yet through the provident and discreet 
care of the governor recovered and preserved strength till our own 
crop on the ground was ready. " * In this narrative of the trans- 
action, by the principal character in it, there is no mention of 
Pemaquid. In fact there was at that time no English settlement 
at Pemaquid, and therefore no "granaries", or anything else 
indicating English occupation. The supplies Winslow received 
came from England, in English fishing vessels, as the narrative 
clearly shows, and the masters of those vessels should not be 
robbed of the beautiful tribute that Winslow gratefully, lovingly 
pays to them. 

When the Pilgrims at L,eyden decided to leave the old world for 
the new, it was their purpose to make their settlement within the 
limits of the South Virginia company, "at some place about Hud- 
son's river". Accordingly a patent in their interest, but in the 
name of John Wincob, was secured from that company February 
2, 1619. On approaching the American coast, the Mayflower, 
having made her landfall at Cape Cod, stood southward in order to 
proceed to her destination ; but the vessel falling "amongst dan- 
gerous shoals and roaring breakers and the wind 

shrinking upon them withal, they resolved to bear up again for 
the cape", and came to anchor on the following day in the Cape 
harbor. 2 Making their settlement at length at Plymouth, within 
the limits of the territory of the council for New England, their 
patent became void, and on the return of the Mayflower to Eng- 
land, at their request, a new patent in their interest, and with 
Gorges' assistance as already stated, was issued June 1, 1621, 3 by 
the council for New England, to John Pierce of I<ondon and his 

1 Good News from New England, Mass. Hist. Society's Coll., VIII, 245, 
246. 

2 Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, 93. 

3 The patent is given in full in the Farnham Papers, I, 45-53. It was 
written on parchment of considerable size, but in some way disappeared, and 
was found in 1741 among some old papers in the land office in Boston. In 
1853, it was deposited in Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth. It is believed to be the 
oldest state document in the United States. 



VARIOUS SCHEMES AND LEVETT'S EXPLORATIONS. 163 

associates, and the new patent was brought over in the ship For- 
tune, which arrived at Plymouth, November 11, 1621. It made 
no mention of territorial limits ; but gave to each of the colonists 
and those who should join them, together with their heirs and 
assignees, one hundred acres of land in any place or places "not 
already inhabited by any English". So far as is known, this was 
the first grant of land made by the council for New England 
under its charter of 1620. On April 20, 1622, without the knowl- 
edge of the Plymouth colonists, Pierce obtained another patent, 
superseding that of June 1, 1621. When this action on Pierce's 
part came to the knowledge of the Pilgrims, they were indignant 
with Pierce and carried their case to the council for New Eng- 
land. Claiming that they had been deceived by Mr. Pierce, they 
asked the council's assistance in obtaining redress, and May 18, 
1623, the patent was yielded to them on the payment of five hun- 
dred pounds, the council passing an order, that the associates "are 
left free to hold the privileges by the said former grant of the first 
of June [1621], as if the latter had never been. And they, the 
said associates, to receive and enjoy all that they do or may pos- 
sess by virtue thereof, and the surplus that is to remain over and 
above by reason of the later grant, the said Pierce to enjoy, and 
to make his best benefit of, as to him shall seem good". 1 

On the ground of this relation of John Pierce to the Pilgrim 
grant, the claim of an early Pierce settlement at Broad bay, within 
the limits of ancient Pemaquid, has been advanced. It has been 
shown conclusively, however, that this claim cannot be made to 
rest upon any such foundation. "No evidence has been found 
that Pierce ever intimated an intention to make such a use of the 
patent of June 1, 1621; and more important still, so far as we 
know, his son Richard, during his life-time here, never put for- 
ward any claim based upon the provisions of that charter. ' ' 2 This 

1 Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, Mass. Hist. Soc, Ed. 1913, 
I, 306. 

2 Professor John Johnston's History of Bristol and Bremen, 53. Prof. 
Johnston was a native of Bristol, and devoted many years to the preparation 
of his valuable work. 



164 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

is the statement of a most careful writer of early Maine history, 
who says the claim is that of the Pierce heirs of a late generation, 
indeed as late as 1734, and he adds; "probably we shall best 
regard it as an after-thought, adopted by them to strengthen their 
supposed claim to a proprietary interest here, by virtue of the 
irregular transactions of their ancestors." 1 

At this time, however, we get a glimpse of the beginnings of 
the ownership of Monhegan. At a meeting of the council for 
New England held July 24, 1622, the matter of a division of the 
land held by the council under the patent of November 3, 1620, 
was under consideration, and it was ordered that the earl of 
Arundell should have for his "devident" from "the middle of 
Sagadahoc and to go northeast so much on his side as Mr. Secre- 
tary [Calvert] goes on the other side upon the coast [z*. e. , west of 

the Kennebec] and to reach 2 miles backward into the main 

and three leagues into the sea ; and to have further into his devi- 
dent the island called Menehigan". 8 At this meeting two other 
divisions were made, one to the lord duke of L,enox and one to 
Secretary Calvert. The division of the former was to extend 
from "the middle of Sawahquatock", that is, from the middle of 
the Saco river, half way to the Sagadahoc, and back into the 
country thirty miles ; while Secretary Calvert's division was to 
comprise the territory between the division assigned to the duke 
of L,enox and that assigned to the earl of Arundell ; also the 
island of Seguin. This is known as the first division of the great 
patent for New England. 

At a meeting of the council held twelve days earlier (July 12, 
1622), William Cross and Abraham Jennings, 4 merchants (who 

1 , History of Bristol and Bremen, 51. 

2 The blank was not filled, but the distance was probably thirty miles, as 
in the "devident" of the duke of Lenox made on the same date. 

3 Farnham Papers, I, 62. 

* Although Abraham Jennings was a prominent merchant in Plymouth, 
little is known concerning him. So far as the writer is aware, there is no 
memorial of him in Plymouth of any kind. The first volume of the records 
of the parish of St. Andrew's Church, Plymouth, goes back to 1581. Abra- 



VARIOUS SCHEMES AND EEVETT'S EXPLORATIONS. 165 

apparently were present) were invited "to enter the great pat- 
ent", that is to become members of the council for New England. 
Jennings was a prominent merchant of Plymouth, and had large 
fishing interests on the coast of Maine. Both of the men 
requested time for the consideration of membership. Jennings 

ham Jennings was born about that time. The record of his baptism is 
not found in the early years of this record. It may be that he was born 
before 1581, or that he was not born in Plymouth. In 1605, he paid for his 
freedom {Black Book, city clerk's office, Plymouth, 307, verso), and on May 
22, 1608, he married Judith, a daughter of Nicholas Cheere, of Plymouth. 
The record of her baptism, which occurred November 6, 1586, the writer 
found in the first volume of the parish records of St. Andrew's Church, Ply- 
mouth, under that date. From the city records of Plymouth, little can be 
gleaned concerning Abraham Jennings. He was alive in 1641, when an 
assessment for a poll tax was made by Parliament upon the inhabitants of 
Ventre Ward. The assessment of the mayor, William Byrch, was five 
pounds, that of Abraham Jennings seven pounds. Robert Trelawny's assess- 
ment was ten pounds. A reference toj ennings' business interests appears in 
the fact that a question as to the title of "Jennings' Key" (quay) Plymouth, 
came up in 1675. The quay was then in possession of Jennings and Warren, 
Jennings being Abraham Jennings' son William, and in the inquiry then 
made concerning the title it was stated that this quay, known as Jennings' 
Key, was part of an ancient quay called Hawkins' Key, which by lease 
passed to William Stalling and from Stalling to Abraham Jennings, ' 'by 
assignment sixty seven years since". As this statement was made in 1675, 
the quay came into Abraham Jennings' possession in 1608. It is further 
stated that "about fifty three years since" (and accordingly about 1622) 
Abraham Jennings purchased of Hawkins, and those who claimed under him, 
a lease of the Hawkins' interest in the quay ; and that ' 'about thirty six 
years since", that is, about 1639, he purchased for himself and heirs "the 
reversion of one sixth part of the Key in question, which the said Abraham 
Jennings by his last will and testament gave to the said William Jennings" 
his son. The writer, in the summer of 1912, made diligent search for this 
will at Plymouth and later in London, but without success. "For divers 
good causes and considerations" all claims to the Jennings' "Key" were 
released by Jennings and Warren to the mayor and commonalty of Plymouth, 
and the quitclaim, on parchment, is preserved in the city clerk's office in 
Plymouth, with fine signature and seal of William Jennings, who still spelled 
the name "Jennens". In the record of the freedom payment in 1605, the 
name is spelled "Jennyngs"; but in the record of his marriage in 1608, it is 
"Jennens". 



166 the; beginnings of colonial mains. 

after such consideration accepted membership, and paid one hun- 
dred and ten pounds into the treasury of the council as the cost 
of membership, for which a receipt was ordered by the council on 
November 27, 1622. Three days later, "A bill of receipt of 
110 pounds" was sealed to Mr. Abraham Jennings "with covenant 
for his devident in the main land of New England". 1 At a meet- 
ing held nearly two months later (January 28, 1622, O. S.), the 
records of the council show that on that date "the commission 
for seizing of the island of Monhegan is this day sealed and 
signed by the lord duke of L,enox" and eight others, including 
the earl of Arundell". 2 A second division of the great patent 
for New England occurred on June 29, 1623, when the king was 
present and participated in the drawing, which was by lot. "A 
plot of all the coasts and lands, divided into twenty parts, each 
part containing two shares", had been prepared "with the names 
of twenty patentees by whom these lots were to be drawn". Mr. 
Abraham Jennings was not present, and his lot, which was the 
fifth, was drawn for him by Sir Samuel Argall. 3 This division, 
like the first, was not consummated. There is no evidence that 
the earl of Arundell ever acquired possession of the island of 
Monhegan, or that there was any authority for the seizure of the 
island in accordance with the action of the council January 28, 
1622 ; but it was in the possession of Abraham Jennings not long 
after. It seems probable, therefore, that he acquired possession 
of the island about the time he became a member of the council, 
and it may be that he accepted membership in this languishing 
enterprise in order to open the way for its possession. It cer- 
tainly was of value to him because of the advantages it would 
secure to those who had the management of his fishing and trad- 
ing interests on that part of the New England coast. 

August 10, 1622, without having consummated its action with 
reference to a division of its territory, the council for New Eng- 

1 Proceedings of American Antiquarian Society, April 24, 1867, 76. 

2 lb., 82. 

3 Farnham Papers, I, 75. 



VARIOUS SCHEMES AND EEVETT'S EXPLORATIONS. 167 

land made a second grant of land within the limits of its charter. 
The grantees were Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John 
Mason. From the success of the Pilgrim colony at Plymouth, in 
whose interest the first grant was secured, Gorges evidently had 
received new encouragement with reference to colonial undertak- 
ings in New England. His acquaintance with Mason, also, had 
brought him into relations with a man of great energy, whose 
readiness to embark in such undertakings had greatly strength- 
ened his own former hopes. and aims. By this action of the coun- 
cil there was granted to Gorges and Mason "all that part of the 
mainland in New England lying upon the sea coast betwixt the 
rivers of Merimack and Sagadahock and to the furtherest heads 
of the said rivers and so forward up into the new land westward 
until three score miles be finished from the first entrance of the 
aforesaid rivers and half way over, that is to say to the midst of 

the said two rivers said portions of lands with the 

appurtenances the said Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John 
Mason, with the consent of the president and council, intend to 
name the Province of Maine". This is the first use of the desig- 
nation, Province of Maine, in any printed document. The grant- 
ees were authorized to "establish such government in the said 

portions of lands and islands as shall be agreeable as 

near as may be to the laws and customs of the realm of Eng- 
land." 1 

Within the limits of this grant to Gorges and Mason, the coun- 
cil for New England (of which Gorges himself was still the lead- 
ing spirit) proceeded May 5, 1623, to grant six thousand acres of 
land to Christopher L,evett. 2 Beyond a brief memorandum in the 
Records of the Great Council and in the Calendar of State Papers, 
no documentary evidence of such a grant has as yet been discov- 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 64-71. The Province of Maine was divided by 
the November grantees 7, 1629, Mason receiving the territory between 
the Merritnac and the Piscataqua . 

2 He was born in York, England, April 5, 1586. His father, Percival Lev- 
ett, was city chamberlain of York in 1584 and sheriff in 1597-8. 



168 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

ered, but contemporary writers supply some added information 
concerning it. 1 

Levett had caught the spirit of adventure abroad in English 
hearts and homes in the last years of Elizabeth's reign, and which 
continued into the reign of James. Following the seas, as his 
chosen occupation, he was mentioned in 1623 as one of the cap- 
tains of his majesty's ships. But he had now become interested 
in new world enterprises. He saw the possibilities which the 
situation of affairs on this side of the Atlantic afforded, and he 
resolved to make his way hither with the purpose of planting a 
colony on New England soil. In some way, he interested the 
king in his enterprise, and Conway, the secretary of state, by 
direction of James, addressed a letter 2 to the lord president of 
York, June 26, 1623, calling his attention to the proposed under- 
taking, as one "honorable to the nation and to the particular 
county and city of York", as it was L,evett's purpose "to build a 
city and call it by the name of York". L,evett, however, needed 
helpers in "so notable a good work". He must have adventur- 
ers to join him in the enterprise, and he must secure fifty men as 
colonists ; also contributions for the erection of a fort ; and Con- 
way requests the lord president ' 'by all fair persuasions to wean 
from the county some assistance upon such conditions as may be 
just and suitable' ' . 

Difficulties were encountered in securing the assistance thus 
sought. At length, however, a vessel was procured, some colo- 
nists were made ready, and Levett, who had been appointed a 
member of Robert Gorges' council, set sail for the New England 

1 Maverick, in his Description of New England, describes the grant in 
terms nearly identical with the memorandum in the Records of the Great 
Council. Edward Godfrey mentioned it in his "Cattalogue of such Patent- 
ees as I know granted for making Plantations in New England". Espe- 
cially is such information to be found in Christopher L,evett's own story, "A 

Voyage into New England begun in 1623 and ended in 1624", in James 
Phinney Baxter's Christopher Levett of York, the Pioneer of Casco Bay, 
Gorges Society, Portland, 1893. 

2 Baxter, Christopher Levett of York, 14, 15. 



VARIOUS SCHEMES AND LEVETT 'S EXPLORATIONS. 169 

coast. The auspices certainly were favorable. L,evett was in the 
prime of life, and as a member of the council for New England 1 , 
as well as of the council under Robert Gorges, in the latter's admin- 
istration of the affairs of New England about to be established, he 
seemed admirably fitted for the work he had undertaken. 

He reached the Isles of Shoals 2 in the autumn of 1623. Land- 
ing at Odiorne's Point 3 at the mouth of the Piscataqua, he met 
Robert Gorges and Captain Francis West, also two members of 
the colony at Plymouth, who were awaiting his arrival ; and the 
organization of the government of New England was now effected. 4 
Here L,evett remained about a month, and then, the season being 
well advanced, he proceeded up the coast with the company he 
had brought with him (and those who had arrived in other ves- 
sels) to make the' selection of a location for his colony. Fortu- 
nately we have his own record of his explorations. 5 

Two open boats conveyed the party and its stores. First, Levett 
examined the vicinity of York harbor, or Aquamenticus, as he 
called it. There he found much land already cleared, "fit for 
planting corn and other fruits, having heretofore been planted by 
the savages, who are all dead". Thence he proceeded to Cape 
Porpoise, "which is indifferent good for six ships, and it is gen- 
erally thought to be an excellent place for fish". A good planta- 
tion, he indicated, could be made there, but it would require some 
labor and expense. The next place he mentions is "Sawco", 
four leagues farther east. On his way thither a heavy fog set- 

1 He was made a member of the council by the payment of a like sum as 
Abraham Jennings. 

2 "The first place I set my foot upon in New England," says Iyevett : and 
he adds, "Upon these islands, I neither could see one good timber tree, nor 
so much good ground as to make a garden". Baxter, Christopher Levett of 
York, 89. 

3 David Thompson, shortly before, had established a small settlement here. 
He was a Scotchman. Two years later, he removed to an island in Boston 
harbor, which still bears his name, and where he died two years afterward, 
lb., 90, note. 

* Of its brief duration, mention has already been made. 
5 Baxter, Christopher Levett of York. 



170 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

tied down upon the explorers, the boats became separated, and a 
fierce storm assailing them they were forced to strike sail and take 
to their oars. Night coming on they anchored, and their anchor 
held them securely until morning, when they succeeded in making 
their way "into Sawco", which Levett describes as "about one 
league to the northeast of a cape land ; and about one-eighth mile 
from the main lieth six islands, which make an indifferent good 
harbor. And in the main there is a cove or gut, which is about a 
cable's length in breadth and two cable's length long, where two 
good ships may ride being well moored ahead and stern ; and 
within the cove there is a great marsh, where at a high water a 
hundred sail of ships may float, and be free from all winds, but at 
low water must lie aground, but being soft oase they can take na 
hurt". 1 

There they found the other boat and tarried five days, the wind 
being contrary. Mention is made of "rain and snow", but not- 
withstanding the unfavorable weather, L,evett followed the shore 
of Old Orchard bay as far as the northern extremity of the beach. 
In his mention of the Saco river, he says the Indians told him it 
had its source at a great mountain called "the Crystal Hill", 
evidently Mount Washington, "being as they say one hundred 
miles in the country, yet is it to be seen at the sea side, and there 
is no ship arrives in New England, either to the west so far as 
Cape Cod, or to the east so far as Monhegan, but they see this 
mountain the first land, if the weather be clear". 2 

Making his way still farther up the coast, I,evett came to 

1 "It is difficult to identify the locality which Levett calls Saco; but his 
description plainly comprises Fletcher's Neck and Biddeford Pool, as well 
as the islands, Wood, Negro, Ram, Eagle, Stage and Basket". Baxter, 
Christopher Levett, 93, note. 

2 Approaching Portland from the east and sailing between Monhegan and 
the main land for many years, the late Captain Charles Deering, of the 
steamer Lewiston, told the writer that he had never seen Mount Washington 
from the sea until he had passed Small Point. Approaching Portland in one 
of the New York steamers, Mount Washington is seen on a clear day when 
within a few miles of the Two Lights on Cape Elizabeth. 



VARIOUS SCHEMES AND 1,3 VETT ' S EXPLORATIONS. 171 

"Quack", which, he says, "I have named York" — the name he 
had selected for his proposed settlement before he left England. 
Quack, he describes, as "a bay or sound betwixt the main and 
certain islands which lyeth in the sea about one English mile and 
a half ' . Clearly the reference is to Portland harbor, the western 
part of Casco bay. Continuing his narrative, I^evett adds : ' 'There 
are four islands 1 which make one good harbor; there is very 
good fishing, much fowl and the main as good ground as any can 
desire". Fore river he named Invert's river. 2 As in his boat 
the explorer passed up into this river and thought of the York 
that was his birthplace, and of the York whose beginnings he 
purposed to make, imagination kindling at the scene, he could 
hardly have failed to catch a vision of the spires and fair resi- 
dences of the Portland of which Longfellow loved to sing as 

"the beautiful town 
That is seated by the sea". 3 

"At this place", says ^evett, "there fished divers ships of Way- 
mouth 4 this year", the first fishing vessels of which we have any 
record in connection with Portland harbor. 

Continuing his exploration eastward, I,evett makes mention of 
another river, our Presumpscot : "up which", he writes, "I went 
about three miles, and found a great fall of water much bigger 
than the fall at London bridge at low water". Thence to the 
Sagadahoc, he says, "is all broken islands in the sea, with many 
excellent harbors, where a thousand sail of ships" might ride in 
safety. Especial mention is made of Casco, a place evidently on 
the mainland having "a good harbor, good fishing, good ground 
and good fowl, and a site for one of the twenty good towns well- 

1 Cushing's, House, Peak's and Diamond. 

2 Ivevett says, "I made bold to call [it] by my own name". It should 
bear the name still. 

8 All the explorers who preceded I/evett seem to have failed to enter Port- 
land harbor, and so not to have noticed the fitness of the location of Port- 
land for settlement purposes. 

4 On Waymouthbay, between Plymouth and Southampton, England. 



172 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

seated to take the benefit both of the sea and fresh rivers' ' . 1 The 
whole distance from Cape Elizabeth to the Sagadahoc, L,evett 
found exceedingly favorable for plantations. "Of Sagadahoc", 
he said, "I need say nothing of it; there hath been heretofore 
enough said by others, and I fear too much." Plainly he had no 
heart to make any reference to it. Seventeen years had not erased 
the memories of the disappointments connected with the failure 
of the Popham colony ; and yet it is to be wished that so interest- 
ing a writer as L,evett had held his feelings sufficiently in control 
to have given us a sketch of the ruins of Fort Saint George as he 
found them at that time. All he tells us is that "the place is 
good, there fished this year two ships." 

Levett then passed on to Capemanwagan, where nine vessels 
had "fished" that year. In the present Cape Newaggen, there is 
evidently an echo from that early period. The reference may be 
to Southport, or perhaps Boothbay harbor. There he remained 
four days and met many Indians with their wives and children, 
prominent among them three sagamores, Menawormet, Cogawesco 
(the sagamore of Casco and Quack) and Somerset, who he men- 

1 Possibly the little harbor at Harpswell point, as "well-seated to take the 
benefit both of the sea and fresh rivers". Royal river at Yarmouth and the 
Harraseeket at South Freeport are such rivers. 

2 He is first mentioned in connection with the Plymouth colonists, whom 
he saluted March 16, 1621, with the word "Welcome", adding that "he was 
not of those parts, but of Morattiggon" as recorded in Mourts' Relation, 
and Which is there described as ' 'lying hence a day's sail with a great wind 
and five days by land". By some, accordingly, Morattiggon is identified 
with Monhegan ; but more probably the reference is to some place on the 
Maine coast in that vicinity. From Somerset the Pilgrims learned that the 
Indian name of their plantation was Patuxet. His name appears in early 
records as above, and is also written Samoset, Samosett, Sameset, Sammer- 
set, Sammeset, etc. Bradford, after a reference to some skulking Indians, 
had this reference to him : "But about ye 16th of March a certain Indian 
came boldly amongst them [the colonists] and spoke to them in broken 
English, which they could well understand, but marvelled at it. At length 
they understood by discourse with him, that he was not of these parts, but 
belonged to the eastern parts, where some English ships came to fish, with 
whom he was acquainted, and could name sundry of them by their names, 



VARIOUS SCHEMES AND LEVETT'S EXPLORATIONS. 173 

tions as "one that hath been found very faithful to the English, 
and hath saved the lives of many of bur nation, some from starv- 
ing, others from killing". L,evett proceeded no farther to the 
eastward, being told by the sagamores mentioned "that Pema- 
quid and Capemanwagan and Monhigon were granted to others", 
and especially as Cogawesco said to him that if he would plant his 
colony at either Quack or Casco, he would be welcome. 

Already Iyevett had settled upon Quack as the location of his 
colony, and on the next day, the wind being fair, he set out on 
his return, taking with him Cogawesco, also his wife and son, 
"bow and arrows, dog and kettle, his noble attendants rowing by 
us in their canoe". On his arrival at Quack, now called by 
L,evett, York, he was welcomed by the masters of the fishing ves- 
sels there, and at once commenced the erection of a house, which 
he fortified "in a reasonable good fashion." Where the house 
was located, he does not record ; but Maverick, writing about 
1660, and referring to his visit to Casco bay in or about 1624, 
says it was "on an island lying before Casco river", 1 now sup- 
posed to be House Island. 2 

But clouds soon settled down upon the little settlement. The 
master of one of the vessels in the harbor, "a great ship with 
seventeen pieces of ordnance and fifty men", evidently an English 
trading vessel, was monopolizing those traffic privileges of the 
vicinity, which I^evett insisted were his own by reason of his pat- 
ent of land, in accordance with which he had now located. Defied 

amongst whom he got his language. He became profitable to them in 
acquainting them with many things concerning the state of the country in 
the east parts where he lived, which was afterwards profitable unto them ; 
as also of the people here, of their names, number and strength ; of their 
situation and distance from this place, and who was chief amongst them. 
His name was Samasett". History of Plymouth Plantation, Mass. Hist. 
Soc. Ed., 1913, I, 199. It was Somerset, who made the Pilgrims acquainted 
with Squanto or Tisquantum. 

1 New England Hist, and Gen. Register, January, 1885. 

2 Baxter, Christopher Levett of York, 105-107, has an interesting note 
concerning the location of L,evett's fortified house. 



174 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

by the master of the vessel, Levett reported the case to his asso- 
ciates of the council for New England as a fit occasion for the 
council's vindication of its authority. 

Levett completed his house and fortifications, and then, prob- 
ably in the summer of 1624, leaving ten men in charge of his 
interests in Casco bay, he took passage for England, doubtless in 
one of the returning fishing or trading vessels upon the coast. 
There he attempted to enlist his countrymen in the settlement 
whose beginnings he had made at York. But the times in Eng- 
land were unpropitious for colonial enterprises. Prince Charles, 
after an unsuccessful attempt to conclude a marriage arrangement 
with the princess Maria of Spain, — an unpopular proceeding, — 
was now seeking the hand of Henrietta, a sister of the king of 
France, who had rival interests in American territory. More- 
over, the discouraging report concerning affairs in New England, 
brought back by Robert Gorges, had not been helpful to such an 
enterprise as Levett had in hand ; and he failed to awaken enthu- 
siasm in his appeal for assistance. Accordingly, he found him- 
self compelled to seek employment elsewhere. This he obtained 
in the autumn of 1625, receiving an appointment as captain of a 
ship in the expedition against Spain under the command of Lord 
Wimbledon — an unsuccessful affair. 

After his return from this service, Levett 's thoughts again 
reverted to his interests in Casco bay, but no way for his return 
opened. What, meanwhile, had become of the ten men whom he 
left in charge of those interests is unknown, as no information 
concerning them has come down to us. Probably, as Levett 
failed to return to Casco bay, they closed the house and finding 
employment upon some fishing or trading vessel, it may be, they 
succeeded at length in making their way back to England, or 
repaired to one of the small settlements beginning to spring up 
here and there along the coast soon after Levett 's return to Eng- 
land. 

Levett found no such settlements in his explorations from the 
Piscataqua to Cape Newaggen. Fishing vessels there were in the 



VARIOUS SCHEMES AND LEVETT'S EXPLORATIONS. 175 

-coast harbors, but none until lie reached Quack, where upon the 
islands the fishermen had doubtless set up their stages. Two ves- 
sels had made their anchorage at Sagadahoc and nine at Cape 
Xewaggen. From the master of one of the vessels at Cape New- 
aggen, Levett had learned that at Pemaquid there was a Barn- 
stable vessel, "Witheridge, Master". 1 At Monhegan and Dam- 
ariscove the number of fishing vessels was much larger. 

But it was inevitable that fishing interests in the waters along 
the coast would lead to settlements upon the main land ; and clear 
and definite proofs of the beginnings of such settlements have 
now been reached. 

1 Christopher Levett of York, 102. 



CHAPTER XI. 
Beginnings Here and Re awakenings in England. 

IT should be noticed, however, that connected with these infant 
settlements now springing up on the Maine coast there was 
no organization like that which planted the colony at James- 
town in Virginia, or that which attempted to establish the Popham 
colony at the mouth of the Kennebec. It was not even as it was 
with the Pilgrims at Plymouth — a body of men and women who, 
not finding in the old world those conditions of civil and religious 
liberty under which they desired to live, sought such conditions 
in the new world, and associated themselves together for this pur- 
pose. Here, even formal association preliminary to such begin- 
nings was lacking, and only individual enterprise, pure and sim- 
ple, is discoverable. 

When I,evett was told by the Indians at Cape Newaggen that 
Pemaquid had been "granted", the reference evidently was to the 
beginning of a settlement that John Brown had made at New 
Harbor on the eastern shore of the Pemaquid peninsula. At that 
time, so far as is known, there was no such occupation at Pema- 
quid on the western shore of the peninsula; but in 1625, John 
Brown had been a resident on the eastern shore long enough to 
have become known as "John Brown of New Harbor" — this 
being his designation in the deed of a tract of land acquired by 
him from the Indians July 15 of that year. As the first deed of 
land within the limits of the territory of the State of Maine, and 
comprising most of the town of Bristol, all the towns of Noble- 
borough and Jefferson, also part of the town of Newcastle, 1 the 
document has especial interest : 

1 Report of [Massachusetts] Commissioners to Investigate the Causes of the 
Difficulties in the County of Lincoln (1811), 23. 



REAWAKENINGS IN ENGLAND. 177 

"To all people whom it may concern. Know ye that I, 
Capt. John Somerset and Unongoit [sic] Indian sagamores, 
they being the proper heirs to all the lands both sides of 
Muscongus river, have bargained and sold to John Brown 
of New Harbor this certain tract or parcel of land as fol- 
loweth, that is to say, beginning at Pemaquid falls and so 
running a direct course to the head of New Harbor, from 
thence to the south end of Muscongus island, taking in 
the island, and so running five and twenty miles into the 
country north and by east, and thence eight miles north- 
west and by west, and then turning and running south and 
by west to Pemaquid where first begun — To all which lands 
above bounded, the said Captain John Somerset and Unnon- 
goit [sic], Indian sagamores, have granted and made over 
to the above said John Brown, of New Harbor, in and for 
consideration of fifty skins, to us in hand paid, to our full 
satisfaction, for the above mentioned lands, and we the 
above said sagamores do bind ourselves and our heirs for- 
ever to defend the above said John Brown and his heirs in 
the quiet and peaceable possession of the above lands. In 
witness whereunto, I the said Capt. John Somerset and 
Unnongoit have set our hands and seals this fifteenth day 
of July in the year of our L,ord God one thousand six hun- 
dred and twenty -five. 

Capt. John Somerset [seal] 
Unnongoit, [seal] 

Signed and sealed in presence of us, 

Matthew Newman, 
Wm. Cox 1 

1 Both of these men probably came from Bristol, England, with John Brown. 
Of the former, Matthew Newman, nothing is now known. He may have died 
after a short residence in the new world, or he may have returned to Eng- 
land. Descendants of William Cox have been well-known residents of Bris- 
tol to the present day. Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 55, 56. 

12 



178 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL, MAINE. 

July 24, 1626, Capt. John Somerset and Unongoit, 
Indian sagamores, personally appeared and acknowledged 
this instrument to be their act and deed, at Pemaquid, 
before me, Abraham Shurte. 

Charlestown, December 26, 1720. Read, and at the 
request of James Stilson, and his sister, Margaret Hilton, 
formerly Stilson, they being claimers and heirs of said 
lands, accordingly entered. 

Per Samuel Phipps, 
One of the Clerks of the Committee for Eastern Lands''. 1 
An early document 2 in the records of Bristol, England, men- 
tions this John Brown as a son of Richard Brown of Barton Regis 
in Gloucester, England, and adds that he married Margaret, 
daughter of Francis Hay ward of Bristol. It is supposed that he 
came to the Maine coast directly from Bristol, probably in one of 
the fishing or trading vessels of that prosperous city. He not 
only became the possessor of the large tract of land above men- 
tioned, but, in 1639, he purchased of the Indians land 3 at what 
was then known as Naquasset, now Woolwich, on the Kennebec, 
a little above Bath, but on the eastern side of the river, and thither 
he removed. A daughter, Elizabeth, married Richard Pearce, 4 
who, in 1641, secured an Indian title to land at Muscongus, a part 

1 Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 54, 55. An attested copy of 
this deed was recorded in York County Register, August 3, 1739. With ref- 
erence to the authenticity of the deed, those connected with the transaction 
offered the deposition of Simon Frost, formerly deputy secretary of the 
province under Josiah Willard, Esq., in which he testified that when he was 
in the office he drew from one of its books, called the Book of Records, the 
aforementioned deed which was there fairly recorded, and of which the 
deed aforesaid is a true copy ; and the deponent further testified that when 
the court house in Boston was burnt, about the year 1748, he had reason to 
believe the said Book of Records was consumed by fire. See Report of 
[Massachusetts] Commissioners to Investigate the Causes of the Difficulties 
in the County of Lincoln (1811), 16. 

2 Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 54. 

3 lb., 237. 

4 He was a son of John Pierce of London, but spelled his name Pearce. 
lb., 50. 



RE AWAKENINGS IN ENGLAND. 179 

of the same being within the bounds of Brown's purchase in 1625, 
the father-in-law being a witness to the transaction. Brown sold 
his land at Naquasset in 1646, and returned to his eastern posses- 
sions. In 1654, he was living at Damariscotta. In a deposition 
of Benjamin Prescott of Danvers, made in Salem, Mass., in 1765, 
Brown is mentioned as living during the last years of his life in 
Boston with his son, John Brown, Jr. Another daughter, Mar- 
garet, married Sander or Alexander Gould. 1 

Concerning Somerset, one of the Indian sagamores, from 
whom John Brown obtained the large tract of land described in 
the above deed, mention has already been made. Unongoit is 
known only in connection with this transaction. 2 

Abraham Shurt, 3 before whom the acknowledgment of John 
Brown's Indian deed of land was made July 24, 1626, was not on 
this side of the ocean when the deed was executed, but came 
hither in 1626, and soon after his arrival took up his residence at 
Pemaquid, where he spent the large part of his long and useful 
life, engaged in business relations that extended to Massachusetts 
on one side and to Nova Scotia on the other. In his participa- 
tion in the acknowledgment of the above deed, Shurt appended no 
title to his signature, and probably claimed no legal authority for 

1 History of Bristol and Bremen, 56. 

2 It was creditable in Brown that he obtained possession of these lands by 
a recognition of Indian rights. 

3 Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 56, 57. Evidently he had been 
in Robert Aldworth's employ in Bristol. In his will, dated August 30, 
1634, Aldworth bequeathed to him two hundred pounds in current English 
money, and mentions him as "my servant", meaning doubtless one in his 
employ. Abraham Shurt was a brother of George Shurt of Biddeford, Eng- 
land. Waters, Genealogical Gleanings in England, II, 983. In 1653, he 
was a witness to an instrument in which he is recorded as ' 'Abraham Shurt 
of Charlestown" [Colony of Massachusetts Bay]. York Deeds, II, folio 84. 
He lived to a ripe old age. In connection with a deposition made by him, 
December 25, 1662, he is said then to have been "aged fourscore years or 
thereabouts". Accordingly at the time of this transaction, he was about 
forty-four years old. Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 59, says, 
"It is altogether probable that he ended his days at Pemaquid". 



180 THE BEGINNINGS OP COEONIAI, MAINE. 

the service lie rendered ; but familiar with common English forms 
in business transactions, evidently a man of ability and integrity, 
he was doubtless recognized as the best fitted for the service of 
any of the residents on the Pemaquid peninsula. 1 

Shurt came to this country from Bristol, England, as the repre- 
sentative of Robert Aid worth 2 and Giles Elbridge, 3 prominent 

1 John Wingate Thornton, Me. Hist. Society's Coll., 5, 195, wrote, "There 
was no precedent for the acknowledgment, or the formula, and Mr. Shurt 
is well entitled to be remembered as the father of American conveyancing". 
Nathaniel I. Bowditch dedicated his Suffolk Surnames to him. Mr. Thorn- 
ton learned later, however, that the same form was in use in England long 
before. Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 57, note. 

2 Robert Aldworth was a son of Thomas Aldworth, who in 1582, as mayor of 
Bristol, interested the merchants of that city in Sir Humphrey Gilbert's expe- 
dition to the American coast in 1583. The son was born in Bristol, November 
8, 1561, and evidently inherited his father's business qualifications. One of 
the historians of Bristol (Barrett, History of Bristol, 688) mentions him as "a 
great adventurer in trade and successful in merchandise". He was master 
of the Merchant Venturers of Bristol in 1609, and served in the same office 
in subsequent years. He was one of those who Assisted in sending Pring to 
the Maine coast in 1606. He was prominent also in civic affairs. In 1596 he 
was sheriff, mayor of Bristol in 1609, and alderman 1614-1634. As a mer- 
chant he was so successful that he might have retired with a competence at 
an early period in his business career, but he seems to have preferred to 
retain his connection with his extensive commercial interests because they 
furnished him with added means for large assistance to the poor of Bristol 
(Pryce, History of Bristol, 219), whom he remembered not only while liv- 
ing, but also in his will. His elegant mansion in Bristol, in the rear of St. 
Peter's church, which was purchased by him in 1607, and in part was 
restored by him at that time, is still standing and some of the rooms are 
shown to visitors. After Aldworth's death, which occured November 6, 
1634, it was occupied by Giles Elbridge, and later by others. In 1698, it 
became that "spacious and general asylum for the poor, the old, the infirm, 
the diseased and the helpless", which has since been known as St. Peter's 
Hospital (Pryce, History of Bristol, 224, 225). Aldworth's costly monu- 
ment, surmounted by the arms of the Merchant Venturers of Bristol, is in 
St. Peter's church. On it Aldworth and wife are represented in effigy, 
kneeling and facing each other. The inscription to the wife is as follows : 

Martha Aldworth the loving and beloved wife 
Of Robert Aldworth, merchant, adventurer & 
alderman of this citie of Bristol lyeth heere 




ALD WORTH AND ELBRIDGE MEMORIAL IN ST. PETER 'S CHURCH, BRISTOL. 



RE AWAKENINGS IN ENGLAND. 181 

merchants of that city, who doubtless already had large fishing 
and trading interests on the coast and wished to avail themselves 
of better facilities in conducting their business. In some way it 
had become known to them that Abraham Jennings of Plymouth, 

Under interred, to whose pious and everlivinge 
Memory, and as a perpetual testimonie of his 
Dear love and her matchless virtues, her 
Sorrowful surviving husband aforesaide 
Hath dedicated this monument. 
She died on May 2nd, 1619, aged 58. 

The following is a translation of a Latin inscription on the central panel of 
the base of the monument : 

Although this statue of the venerable man is silent 

Learn, O reader and beholder who he was — 

A famous merchant, a successful voyager through 

Many seas, seeking rather the glory of his country 

And the relief of the poor than thirsting for 

The accumulation of hoards of wealth. 

And, therefore, by the will of God, 

He became richer, an exemplary magistrate of the city, 

Full of honor and fidelity, serving Christ and God 

According to the teaching of the Church of England 

(Which was dear to his heart) ; he closed his life in peace 

And now enjoys eternal peace beyond the stars. 

In the panel under the effigy of Aldworth's wife are the following lines in 

English : 

What riches, grace and nature coulde bestowe 
In her (that's here interred) as streames did flowe 
A second Martha one whose faith did even 
Wing'd with hope and love mount up to heaven, 
Heere sweetlie sleepes her dust her soule dievine 
Is fledd from hence and now above doth shine ; 
As loathinge earth shoulde longer kept inthrall 
From Christ, to be with whome is best of all, 
Where now shee lives in blisse and left us heere 
To mourne her losse yet joy to meete her there. 

The entire monument was thoroughly cleaned and decorated in 1901. 
Formerly the whole of the monument was richly embellished with gilt and 
colors. Now, the figures are not painted, but the cushions on which Aldworth 
and his wife are kneeling are painted red, and there is some ornamentation 
in red and gold. 



182 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

England, who had secured the ownership of Monhegan as already- 
stated, was willing to sell the island. Here were the facilities they 
desired to secure, and Abraham Shurt, in their employ, was com- 
missioned by them to proceed to Monhegan and purchase the 
property in their behalf. This he did, and he made payment for 
the same by a bill drawn upon Robert Aldworth for the sum of 
fifty pounds. 

When he declared his willingness to sell the island of Monhegan, 
Abraham Jennings also let it be known that he wished to close out 
his business interests on the island by a sale of the stock of goods 
in his storehouse there. Such information reached the Pilgrims 
at Plymouth. Bradford says: "Wanting goods they understood 
that a plantation, which was at Monhegan, and belonged to some 
merchants of Plymouth [England] was to break up, and divers 
useful goods was there to be sold, the governor and Mr. Winslow 
took a boat and some hands and went thither". This was in the 
summer of 1626. 

On their way they stopped at the mouth of the Piscataqua and 
called on David Thomson, who had established himself there as 
already mentioned. It was a somewhat regretable call on the part 
of Bradford and his associate, for, as the governor records, Mr. 
Thomson had not heard of the sale, and now "understanding their 

3 Giles Elbridge married a niece of Robert Aldworth, and became not only 
his partner in business, but the sole executor of his will. In that instru- 
ment Aldworth mentions Elbridge as his "well beloved kinsman", adding 
"I have found him always true, honest and careful in managing of my busi- 
nesses and in his employment in mine affairs"; and to him, after making 
mention of various bequests to relatives, friends and public charities, he 
bequeathed the residue of his large estate. Elbridge was warden of the Mer- 
chant Venturers of Bristol in 1620, 1621, 1638, 1639, and treasurer 1633, 1634 
and sheriff in 1629, 1630. A son, Thomas Elbridge, came to the Province of 
Maine about the year 1647, and will be mentioned later. Giles Elbridge died 
February 4, 1643-4. His monument in St. Peter's church, Bristol, adjoins 
on the left that of Robert Aldworth, and is of like design as the Aldworth 
monument. Indeed, the position of the Venturer's arms over the center 
of the Aldworth monument is the only indication that the Elbridge memo- 
rial is not a part of the Aldworth structure (Boucher, Transactions of Bris- 
tol and Gloucestershire Archceological Society for 1909 ', XXXII, 24). 



KEAWAKKNINGS IN ENGLAND. 183 

purpose, took opportunity to go with them, which was some hin- 
drance to them both ; for they [the parties representing Jennings 
in the sale] perceiving their joint desires to buy, held their goods 
at higher rates, and not only so, but would not sell a parcel of 
their trading goods, except they sold all". The result was that 
"least they should further prejudice one another, they agreed to 
buy all", and divide the goods equally between them. This was 
done. Also "they bought a parcel of goats, which they distrib- 
uted at home as they saw need and occasion and took corn for them 
of the people, which gave them good content". The Pilgrims' 
expenditure in this transaction amounted to four hundred pounds 
sterling. Bradford gives this further information, that a French 
vessel, "in which were many Biscay rugs and other commodities", 
was wrecked that spring at Sagadahoc, and that those who were 
conducting the sale at Monhegan had secured from the wreck 
some things that were saved from the cargo, also some secured by 
the Damariscove fishermen. These also were purchased by Brad- 
ford and Thomson, and the total purchase of the Pilgrims at the 
sale amounted to more than five hundred pounds sterling. 1 

This large sum and that paid by Thomson furnish evidence 
with reference to the importance of Monhegan at this time as a 
trading station. There is no inventory of the sale, but the goods 
that were sold doubtless included such as the fishermen on the 
coast were likely to need during the fishing season ; also such 
supplies as the scattered settlers, who had established themselves 
at favorable locations on the main land here and there, would 
need for themselves and for trading with the Indians. 

At this time Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his associates in the 

1 Bradford tells us that for the most part the Pilgrims raised the money for 
the purchases made by them at this time from the sale of ' 'the beaver and 
commodities they had obtained during the preceding winter", and also by 
"what they had gathered up that summer" ; and the governor adds : "With 
these goods and their corn after harvest, they got good store of trade, so as 
they were enabled to pay their engagements against the time and to get 
some clothing for the people". History of the Plymouth Plantation, Mass. 
Hist. Soc, Ed. 1913, I, 449. 



184 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

council for New England were giving little attention to affairs on 
this side of the sea. Gorges was still in command of the fort at 
Plymouth and being a devoted royalist other interests engrossed 
his attention. His correspondence in this period illustrates the 
fact that he found abundant occupation in connection with public 
concerns, especially those pertaining to England's relations with 
France and Spain. 1 

James I died March 27, 1625, and was succeeded by his son, 
Charles I, whose marriage with the princess Henrietta Maria of 
France followed on May 11. His first Parliament assembled on 
June 18. It soon became evident that the new king and his 
advisers had learned nothing from the ill success that had attended 
James in his dealings with the House of Commons. "We can 
hope everything from the king who now governs us", exclaimed 
Sir Benjamin Rudyerd in a moment of optomistic enthusiasm ; 
but the hope soon vanished. The declared purpose of the House 
to take up public grievances before proceeding to any other busi- 
ness enraged the king, and Parliament adjourned to meet in 
Oxford on July 11. As the king proceeded to levy the disputed 
customs in defiance of law, the members of the House of Com- 
mons, when Parliament reassembled, were in an angry mood. 
"England", said Sir Robert Phelps, "is the last monarchy that 
yet retains her liberties. Let them not perish now" . The king 
made answer by the dissolution of Parliament, which followed on 
August 12. 

The second Parliament of Charles I assembled February 6, 1626. 
Sir Robert Phelps and four others, who had been prominent in 
asserting the rights of the House of Commons, were prevented 
from taking their seats in that body by Buckingham's act in mak- 
ing them sheriffs. But the new House, under the leadership of 
Sir John Eliot, was no less determined in its opposition to misrule 
than the last ; and early in the session the attention of the king 
was called to the matter of grievances. His answer was not sat- 
isfactory, and May 24, 1626, Mr. Whitby, seeking still for gov- 

1 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 191-251. 



RE AWAKENINGS IN ENGLAND. 185 

ernment action concerning "liberty of free fishing in the parts of 
America, with the incidents of timber, &c. , ' ' referred to the king's 
answer as a grievance. 1 Strong opposition to Buckingham, the 
king's favorite minister, rapidly developed, and Sir John Eliot 
and Sir Dudley Digges were imprisoned in the Tower. The 
House of Commons, however, demanded their release, refusing to 
proceed with the affairs of the kingdom until this was done. 
Their release followed, but Charles dissolved Parliament June 15, 
thus widening the breach that already separated him from the 
representatives of the people, whose liberties he had sworn to 
maintain, and foreshadowing events that were to characterize his 
unhappy reign. 

Meanwhile, the Pilgrims had firmly established themselves at 
Plymouth, but their indebtedness to the London adventurers for 
money advanced in fitting out the Mayflower, interest charges, 
etc., had loaded them with increasingly burdensome obligations; 
and, in 1625, Miles Standish was sent to London to make some 
arrangement if possible with the creditors, whereby it would not 
be necessary for them to pay "such high interest, or to allow so 
much per cent". But he reached England "at a very bad time", 
says Bradford, "for the state was full of trouble, and the plague 
very hot in London, so as no business could be done"; and he 
returned to Plymouth without accomplishing what he and his fel- 
low colonists hoped would be the result of his negotiations. 2 

But happily a trip to the Kennebec after the abundant harvest 
of that year, enabled Winslow to exchange with the Indians of 
that river a shallop's load of corn for "seven hundred pounds of 
good beaver and some other furs"; and when at length in the 
fur-laden shallop he floated down the river to its mouth, and made 

1 "Mr. Whitby reported grievances 31y. That the subject may 

have liberty of free fishing in the parts of America with the incidents of 
timber, etc. Which being restrained in the king's answer, to desire that it 
be enlarged, and the restraint to be presented as a grievance." Journal of 
the House of Commons, May 24, 1625, I, 863. 

2 Bradford, History of the Plymouth Plantation, Mass. Hist. Soc, Ed. 
1913, I, 436. 



186 the; beginnings of colonial mainb. 

his way back to Plymouth, he had laid the foundation of an* 
exceedingly profitable Indian trade. 1 

In the following year the Pilgrims sent another of their number, 
Mr. Isaac Allerton, to I,ondon and directed him "upon as good 
terms as he could" to renew the negotiations with the adventurers 
undertaken by Standish ; but he was not to conclude any arrange- 
ment with them until the Pilgrims themselves ' 'knew the terms 
and had well considered of them." Allerton returned having 
succeeded in making a settlement with the adventurers whereby 
the Plymouth colonists were to pay their L,ondon creditors eight- 
een hundred pounds in nine annual payments of two hundred 
pounds each, the first payment to be made in 1628. This agree- 
ment was approved by the colonists, "though they knew not well 
how to raise the payment, and discharge their other engagements 

and supply the yearly wants of the plantation yet they 

undertook it", seven or eight of the colonists, "the chief of the 
place", becoming jointly bound to meet the annual payments at 
the time agreed upon. 2 

In meeting these and other financial obligations, the Pilgrims 
directed added attention to their Kennebec trade. But they found 
that they had as rivals there settlers at the mouth of the Piscata- 
qua, and farther to the eastward, also masters of fishing vessels, 
who were accustomed to enlarge the profits of their voyages to the 
coast by traffic with the Indians ; and in order to secure the trade 
of the river, learning that others had threatened to procure a 
patent for this purpose, they directed Mr. Allerton, while in Eng- 
land, to obtain a patent for the Plymouth colonists. This he did, 
but they found ' 'it was so strait and ill-bounded' ' , says Bradford, 
that it was subsequently renewed and enlarged. Its limits, in the 
final arrangement, were as follows : 

"The said council [for New England] hath further 
given, granted, bargained, sold, enfeoffed, alloted, assigned 
and set over, and by these presents do clearly and abso- 

1 History of the Plymouth Plantation, I, 439. 

2 lb., II, 3-7. 




k 
> 



Out 












RKAWAKKNINGS IN ENGLAND. 187 

lutely give, grant, bargain, sell, alien, enfeofe, allot, assign 
and confirm unto the said William Bradford, his heirs, 
associates and assignees all that tract of land or part of 
New England in America aforesaid, which lyeth within or 
between and extendeth itself from the utmost [extent] of 
Cobestcont, which adjoineth to the river of Kenibeck, 
towards the western ocean, and a place called the falls of 
Nequamkick 1 in America, aforesaid, and the space of fifteen 
English miles on each side of the said river, commonly 
called Kenebeck river, and all the said river called Kene- 
beck that lies within the said limits and bounds eastward, 
westward, northward and southward, last afore mentioned, 
and all lands, grounds, soils, rivers, waters, fishing, hered- 
itaments and profits whatsoever situate lying and being 
arising and accruing or which shall arise happen or accrue 
in and within the said limits and bounds or either of them 
together with free ingress, egress and regress with ships, 
boats, shallops and other vessels from the sea commonly 
called the western ocean to the said river called Kenebec 
and from the river to the said western ocean, together with 
all prerogatives, rights, royalties, jurisdictions, privileges, 

franchises, liberties and immunities And by 

virtue of authority to us derived by his late majesty's letters 
patents, to take, apprehend, seize and make prize of all such 
persons, their ships and goods as shall attempt to inhabit 
and trade with the savage people of that country within 
the several precincts and limits of his and their several 
plantations", etc. 2 

1 On what is known as Johnston's map, compiled from "an ancient plan of 
E. Hutchinson's, Esq., and from Jos. Heath in 1719, and Phin's Jones' survey- 
in 1731, and from John North's late survey in 1752", the "falls of Nequam- 
kick' ' [Negumkikee on the map] are about half way between Augusta and 
Waterville. The copy of this map herewith presented is from the original in 
possession of the Maine Historical Society. 

2 The above is an extract from what is known as the charter of Plymouth 
colony, which was confirmed to William Bradford and his associates by the 



188 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

The territory on the Kennebec, thus acquired by the Pilgrims, 
extended from Gardiner to falls in the river about half way between 
Augusta and Waterville, and they proceeded at once, on obtaining 
the grant, to take possession of it by the erection of a trading house 
at Cushenoc, now Augusta, which they conceived, says Bradford, 
to be the most convenient place on the river for trade. 1 

Williamson says the Pilgrims had three stations for local traffic 
on the Kennebec — one at Popham's fort, one at Richmond's land- 
ing and one at Cushenoc. 2 There is no evidence, however, that 
they had any other trading post on the river than that at Augusta. 
Neither of the other places mentioned were within the limits of 
their patent. Moreover, the early Pilgrim writers make mention 
of only one. Bradford, in referring to events that occurred 
on the river in 1631 , mentioned ' 'the house there' ' . 8 Again writing 
of events that occurred in 1634, he refers to some who "would 
needs go up the river above their house (towards the fall of the 
river) and intercept the trade that should come to them" [the 
Pilgrims] . 4 

great council for New England January 23, 1630, and is now in the Registry 
of Deeds at Plymouth, with the box in which it was brought from England. 
For a time its location was unknown, but in 1741 it was found at Plympton, 
Mass., "after a deal of labor and cost". It is printed in full in the Farnham 
Papers, I, 108-116. Bradford assigned the patent to the freeman of the 
Plymouth colony, March 12, 1642. 

1 Bradford, Mass. Hist. Soc, Ed. 1913, II, 41. 

2 History of Maine, I, 237. In another place (I, 252) he mentions two, 
one at Fort Popham and one at Cushenoc. 

3 Bradford, II, 113. 

* Bradford, II, 176. Concerning the Pilgrim trade on the Kennebec, 
Williamson (I, 235, 236) says: It was "trade in anew article called wam- 
pum ; which her v people were pursuing with great profits. It consisted of 
white and blue beads, long and as large as a wheat corn, blunt at the ends, 
perforated and strung ; possessing a clearness and beauty which rendered 
them desirable ornaments. They were only known to the Narragansetts, 
the Pequots and the natives on Long island ; from whom they were obtained 
at a low price for corn, or small articles of foreign fabric, and transported 
into this eastern country and bartered for furs." The Pilgrims also kept 
for their Indian trade such articles as coats, shoes, blankets, biscuit, fruits 
and trinkets, but wampum commanded a more ready market than any other 
commodity. Prince's Annals, 172, 3. 



RBAWAKKNINGS IN ENGLAND. 189 

After they had thus firmly established themselves on the Ken- 
nebec, Bradford and his Plymouth associates came into possession 
of a trading house at Penobscot. In 1630 some of the English 
adventurers, who were interested in the Pilgrim enterprise, 
entered into business relations with one Edward Ashley and fur- 
nished him with goods for trading purposes. Bradford describes 
Ashley "as a very profane young man", who had "for some time 
lived among the Indians as a savage". 1 Ashley opened his trad- 
ing house at Penobscot. While the Pilgrims had no confidence in 
the man, they foresaw that a trading house at that place in 
unfriendly hands would be prejudicial to their interests on the 
Kennebec. So, "to prevent a worst mischief", as Bradford says, 
they resolved to join in the enterprise and furnished Ashley with 
supplies. But he soon exhibited his true character ; and having 
been detected in selling powder and shot to the Indians, which he 
was under bonds not to do, he was arrested by parties not men- 
tioned and taken to England, where he was imprisoned in the 
Fleet. 2 In this way the trading post at Penobscot wholly passed 
into the hands of the Plymouth colonists. 

But it was not altogether a source of profit to the Pilgrims. In 
1631 the house was robbed by some Frenchmen, who secured 
beaver and goods valued at four or five hundred pounds. The 
man in charge of the post and some of his assistants were at the 
westward in order to get a supply of goods, when one day a small 
French vessel came into the harbor. The story of those on board 
was that they knew not where they were, that their vessel 
leaked, etc. Discovering soon the absence of the officer in charge, 
and the weakness of the post, they noticed the guns in the racks, 
praised them, and one was taken down for examination. The 
man who had secured it, and another who had a pistol, then 
ordered the unarmed garrison of three or four men to surrender, 
which they did and they were held as prisoners and compelled to 
aid in carrying the goods to the French vessel. Then setting the 

1 Bradford, II, 83. 

2 lb., II, 107, 108. 



190 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

prisoners at liberty, the Frenchmen sailed away, mockingly tell- 
ing them to say to their master on his return "that some of the 
Isle of Rey gentlemen had been there". 1 Of course the Plymouth 
colonists could not expect reparation for their loss, and Bradford 
closes his account of the affair without comment, but evidently 
not without a groan. 

Meanwhile L,evett had not lost sight of his far-away possessions 
on this side of the sea. On November 29, 1626, writing from 
Dartmouth to Sir John Coke, chief secretary of state and one of 
the king's privy council, he earnestly called the attention of the 
government to the importance of New England to the nation, and 
his desire to serve his country there. "No man knows better 
than myself", he wrote, "what benefit would accrue unto this 
kingdom by that country, if it were well-planted and fortified, 
which makes me so desirous to tread out a path that all men may 
follow"; 2 and he urged the secretary to place him in command of 
a vessel for this purpose. 

No response seems to have been made to this appeal, and Octo- 
ber 10, 1627, L,evett wrote again to Secretary Coke, inclosing in 
his letter a communication he had received from a New England 
correspondent— some one in charge of his fortified house on an 
island in Portland harbor, it may be — in which he urged the sec- 
retary not to let the multiplicity of weighty affairs crowd out of 
his thoughts vast interests in New England, suggesting also an 
audience in order that he might more fully lay before him consid- 
erations of national importance. 3 

In returning from his disastrous French expedition, Bucking- 
ham landed at Plymouth, and on his way to London passed 
through Sherborne, where L,evett lived. Here the latter had an 
interview with one near the king. Doubtless Buckingham was 

1 This illustration of French pleasantry has reference to the Duke of Buck- 
ingham's disastrous expedition of July, 1627, for the relief of Rochelle, in 
which he lost two thousand men, and his opponents not one. Isle de Rhe 
is on the French coast near Rochelle. 

2 Baxter, Christopher Levett of York : the Pioneer of Casco Bay, 58. 

3 lb. 61, 62. 



REJAWAKKNINGS IN ENGLAND. 191 

glad to seize hold of any matter of concern that would draw pub- 
lic attention from a great national defeat ; and he promised Eevett 
that on reaching London he would look into matters pertaining to 
New England. L,evett, so far as is known, had not received any 
encouragement in answer to his previous letter to Coke ; and he 
now wrote again to the secretary, informing him of the interview 
he had held with the duke— the letter is dated November 17, 1627, 
probably immediately after Buckingham's departure for L,ondon— 
and inclosing a statement 1 that he had prepared to be used in con- 
nection with the matter in any consideration it might receive. He 
was willing, he said, to go to L,ondon if his presence there was 
desired ; and he closed his letter to Coke by informing him that 
further neglect on the part of the government would compel him 
to order his men "now going to fish there", that is, on the New 
England coast, to come away with their vessels. 2 

In this added attempt to reach the ear of Charles, L,evett was 
successful; and the king February 11, 1628, issued a proclama- 
tion, calling attention to existing "differences" between England 
and England's rivals, France and Spain, and the necessity of pro- 
tecting English interests on the coast of New England from those 
whom he designates as "foreign enemies". He referred also to 
the fact that those who were inclined to become adventurers there 
had become "altogether discouraged and disabled to proceed to 
their intention" ; while at the same time the conditions were such 
in England that the government could not give needed assistance 
to these remote parts and so secure to the nation ' 'the many com- 
modities and merchandise thence to be had, and the store of tim- 
ber there growing, very necessary for the provision of shipping". 
Not to protect such interests meant loss and dishonor to the 
nation, and advantage and encouragement to England's enemies. 

L,evett 's appeal, evidently, had awakened the king to a consid- 
eration of conditions not only on this side of the sea, but also in 
England. The government was handicapped because of the 

1 Baxter, Christopher Levett of York :. the Pioneer of Casco Bay, 64-66. 

2 lb., 63, 64. 



192 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

strained relations existing between the king and the House of 
Commons. What then ? Something must be done, and it must 
be done speedily. In a proclamation, accordingly, Charles now 
outlined a plan of procedure, and called for public contributions 
in L,evett's behalf. 

"Whereas we have been informed that our well-beloved 
subject, Captain Christopher I,evett, being one of the coun- 
cil for the said plantation, and well knowing the said 
country and the harbors of the same and the strength and 
disposition of the Indians inhabiting in that country, hath 
undertaken and offered to add unto his former adventure 
there all his estate, and to go in person thither, and by 
God's assistance either to secure the planters from enemies > 
keep the possession of the said country on our behalf and 
secure the fishing for our English ships, or else to expose 
his life and means to the utmost fill in that service. Upon 
which his generous and free offer we have thought fit, by 
the advice of our privy council and appointed him to be 
governor for us in those parts, and because the charge in 
preparing, furnishing and setting forth of ships for this 
service at the first will be very great, so as without the help 
and assistance of others (well wishers of those plantations) 
those designs cannot be so well accomplished, as we desire : 
"Know ye that we, out of the love and affection which 
we bear to works of this nature and especially for the prop- 
agation of the true religion, which by this means may be 
effected, by converting those ignorant people to Chris- 
tianity : 

"Have thought fit, by the advice of our said privy coun- 
cil, to commend this so pious a work to the consideration 
and assistance of all our loving and well-disposed subjects ; 
not doubting but they (well weighing the necessity of this 
work, and considering the present troubles of these times) 
will be ready and willing to yield such assistance to the 
same by their voluntary contributions towards the effecting 



RKAWAKKNINGS IN ENGLAND. 193 

thereof, as may in some measure help to defray the present 
charge, now to be dispended for the accomplishing thereof, 
for the honor and safety of this kingdom and the upholding 
of the said plantation : Wherefore our will and pleasure is, 
and we do, by these presents will, require and command all 
and singular archbishops, bishops, archdeacons and deans, 
within their several dioceses and jurisdictions, that forth- 
with, upon sight of these our letters patent, they command 
and cause the same, or the true brief thereof, to be read and 
published in all the several parish churches of and within 
their several dioceses, precincts and jurisdictions, and that 
the church wardens of every several parish shall gather and 
collect all such sum and sums of money, as shall be freely 
and voluntarily given, and contributed to the purposes 
aforesaid, and the same being gathered and collected, forth- 
with to pay and deliver over unto the said Captain Christo- 
pher Levett, or to such person or persons as shall by him in 
writing under his hand and seal thereunto authorized and 
appointed, whom we do think most fit in regard of his said 
employment to be trusted with the disposing of the same. 
In witness whereof we have caused these our letters to be 
made patents for the space of one whole year next ensuing, 
the date of these presents to endure." 1 
This document invites attention to considerations in old Eng- 
land as well as to those in New England. Charles was in sore 
conflict with the House of Commons, as his father had been in 
his unhappy reign ; but the conflict had become increasingly bit- 
ter both on the side of the king and of the Commons. The king 
had refused to listen to the grievances that the representatives of 
the people had laid before him, and the Commons had refused to 
vote such subsidies as the king demanded, unless he would first 
listen to their demands concerning the grievances. In this state 
of affairs Charles proceeded to levy taxes by his own authority, 

1 Baxter, Christopher Levett of York, 68-71. 

13 



194 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

with the result that the hall of the House of Commons rang with 
indignant protestations at such an outrage upon their ancient 
rights, and the king angrily responded by dissolving Parliament. 
But each succeeding Parliament proved more intractable, and the 
relations of the king to the no less angry members of the House 
of Commons were greatly strained. 

It was in this state of affairs in England that Charles issued 
this remarkable proclamation. It is difficult to escape the impres- 
sion that the underlying motive of the king in issuing the procla- 
mation was not so much that he might render assistance to L,evett 
in New England, as a desire to divert attention from the sad con- 
dition of England itself by an appeal to the patriotism of his sub- 
jects in connection with national interests abroad, whither Charles' 
eyes had been turned by L,evett's urgent, stirring words. 

How much money came into L,evett's hands from contributions 
gathered at this time in the parish churches of England is 
unknown. In all probability the amount was not large. The 
sympathy of the people throughout the realm was with the House 
of Commons rather than with the king. Moreover, money for 
any purpose, however commendable, was not abundant. L,evett 
was in England in 1628, for in that year he published in London 
his book entitled ' l A Voyage into New England. Begun in 1623 
and Ended in 1624" } It was dedicated to the duke of Bucking- 
ham and other of Levett's fellow members of the council for New 
England, and evidently its publication at that time was designed 
to promote the objects to which the proclamation of the king had 
called attention. The journal of the House of Commons shows 
that on April 19, 1628, a petition from Christopher I^evett was 
presented to that body ; and that on May 27 following, I,evett 
was summoned to appear in the House and bring with him the 

1 Baxter, Christopher Levett oj York, the Pioneer Colonist in Casco Bay, 
Gorges Society, Portland, Maine, 1893, 79-139. To the memoir of Iyevett in 
this volume the writer is chiefly indebted for the main facts in Levett's 
life. Mr. Baxter, in his researches in England with reference to Levett, 
apparently left nothing to be gleaned by later pilgrims. 



RKAWAKENINGS IN ENGLAND. 195 

papers relating to the petition he had presented. We learn 
nothing - at this time concerning' his enterprise here. 1 

But if the parish churches in England failed to render to Levett 
that assistance for which he asked and doubtless hoped to secure, 
the king's proclamation certainly had this result — that it called 
the widest possible attention throughout the kingdom to England's 
American possessions, and inevitably awakened in many hearts 
and homes a rapidly wide-spreading conviction that on this side 
of the sea opportunities were opening for the average man that 
England did not afford. As these considerations became matters 
of conversation at the fireside, in the shop, or wherever the peo- 
ple were employed in their daily occupations, an impetus, in all 
probability undesired and unexpected by the king, was given to 
the great Puritan movement to New England, which was very 
soon in evidence on the Massachusetts coast, as also in those 
colonizing efforts that were discoverable here and there on the 
coast of the Province of Maine not long after. 

Unquestionably, some contributions made in English parish 
churches reached L,evett ; for when Endicott and his company, on 
June 19, 1630, entered Salem harbor, leading a band of Puritan 
colonists under authority of a charter granted by the council for 
New England, Captain Christopher I^evett was one of those who 
welcomed them to New England. The proclamation of the king, 
February 4, 1627, made L,evett governor of "those parts". Evi- 
dently, however, he was not in New England as its governor. 
There is no record of any such claim on I^evett's part. Concern- 
ing when and why he came hither is as yet unknown. That he 
was in command of a vessel is ascertained from Winthrop, who 
records in his journal Levett's departure for England not long 
after the arrival of the Arabella. At that time, he had disposed 
of his interests in and about Casco bay to some Plymouth mer- 
chants, and apparently there were no ties that now bound him 
here. On the homeward voyage I^evett died and was buried at 

1 Baxter, Christopher Levettof York, 73. 



196 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

sea. The records of the Probate Court at Bristol, the port which 
L,evett's ship entered on the return voyage, show that on January 
22, 1630, Iyevett's widow, having journeyed thither from her des- 
olate home in Sherborne, administered on his effects brought by 
the ship ; * and with this record the story of her husband's event- 
ful life was brought to an end. Others were to witness, in grow- 
ing, prosperous American settlements, what L,evett had seen only 
in the dreams that lured him to our coast. 

1 Baxter, Christopher Levett of York, 74-77. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Numerous Grants for Settlements. 

GORGES seems to have had no part in efforts connected with 
the new awakening of England's interests in New England, 
to which reference has just been made. But he was no 
disinterested spectator of the movement hither that followed. 
Very soon he is found in communication with Captain John Mason 
concerning a division of the Province of Maine granted to Gorges 
and Mason by the council for New England, August 10, 1622. 
By an amicable arrangement made November 7, 1629, Mason 
received "all that part of the main land in New England, lying 
upon the sea coast, beginning from the middle part of Merrimack 
river and from thence to proceed northwards along the sea coast 
to Piscataqua river, and so forwards up within the said river, and 
to the furthest head thereof, and from thence northwestwards 
until three score miles be finished from the first entrance of Pis- 
cataqua river, and also from Merrimack through the said river, 
and to the furthest head thereof, and so forwards up into the land 
westwards until three score miles be finished ; and from thence to 
cross over all islands and islets within five leagues distance from 
the premises, and abutting upon the same or any part or parcel 
thereof." 1 

To this tract of land, with the consent of the president and 
council for New England, Mason gave the name New Hampshire. 2 
The rest of the grant of August 10, 1622, namely the territory 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 95-98. 

2 lb., 97. Ten days after this grant to Mason, the council for New Eng- 
land issued to Gorges and Mason a grant known as the Laconia patent. Sir 
David Kirke had accomplished the conquest of Canada, and Gorges and 
Mason hastened to acquire a part of the captured lands that bordered "upon 
the great lake or lakes or rivers commonly called or known by the name of 
the river and lake or rivers and lakes of the Irroquois, a nation or nations 



198 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

between the Piscataqua and the Kennebec, extending from the 
sea coast up into the land as far as is stated in Mason's grant, 
remained in Gorges' possession, and was still known as the Prov- 
ince of Maine. 

But settlers outside of the limits of Gorges' patent were earliest 
in evidence in the new movement toward the Maine coast. Those 
who had followed Brown, and had located with him on the eastern 
shore of the Pemaquid peninsula, were doubtless from the western 
counties of England, probably from Bristol and Plymouth. Fish- 
ermen sailing from those ports, and returning at the close of the 
fishing season, could not fail to tell the story of the trip, includ- 
ing their impressions of the country as they sailed along the coast, 
or as they landed at times here and there in its commodious har- 
bors. Among them, doubtless, were those who discovered the 
opportunities opening here for better conditions than were obtain- 
able in their English homes. The record is not available, in most 
cases it was never made; but from those hardy fishermen, and 
those who listened to their tales of new- world experiences, came 
hither the settlers in those early years. 

The proclamation of the king, calling attention to England's 
interests on this side of the sea, gave an added impulse to English 
settlements on the Maine coast. Pemaquid began to develop into 
a prosperous community. It is stated that by 1630, no less than 
eighty-four families had located there, on the St. George's river 
and at Sheepscot. 1 The first fort at Pemaquid, probably a stock- 

of savage people inhabiting into the landwards betwixt the lines of the west 
and northwest conceived to pass or lead upwards from the rivers of Sagada- 
hock and Merrimack in the country of New England", etc. Neither Gorges 
nor Mason had any very clear idea of the territory thus granted to them ; 
but the rivers named, also the Piscataqua, were supposed to be water-ways 
into a very profitable region for Indian trade. The grant has a history on 
paper only. For the text of the grant, see the Farnham Papers, I, 98-107. 
1 This is the statement of Sullivan, History of the District of Maine, 167 ; 
and Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 64, adds, "Files in secretary's 
office, Boston". There are no such files in the secretary's office now, and 
search there and elsewhere has yielded no information upon which such a 
statement could be based. But the gain in residents at that point was 



NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS . 199 

ade (but not so much a defense against Indian assaults as against 
outlaws and plunderers or French emissaries), must have been 
erected about this time, and doubtless upon the same site occupied 
by the later and more substantial structures connected with which 
are events that make this historic spot memorable for all time to 
come. 

Westward, I^evett's York was still unoccupied. Richmond's 
island, at the northern opening of Old Orchard bay, was held as 
a trading station in 1627, and perhaps earlier, by John Burgess, 
senior. He was "lying sick" there in 1627, made his will on 
April 11 of that year, and probably died on the island. His will 
was proven in England, May 24, 1628. 1 At some time in that 
year Walter Bagnall opened a trading station there. He may 
have been one of the men left by L,evett in charge of his interests 
at House island, Portland harbor and vicinity. 2 It has also been 
suggested 3 that before coming to Richmond's island he was one 
of Thomas Morton's merry crew, whose orgies at Merry Mount 
(on Massachusetts bay between Boston and Plymouth) were such 
a scandal both to the Pilgrims and the Puritans. Winthrop, 4 who 
refers to him as "sometimes servant for one in the bay", calls 
him "a wicked fellow" ; and other references to him by the early 
writers are no more favorable. This also seems to have been the 
estimate of Bagnall held by the Indians with whom he had trade 
relations. To such an extent had he cheated them in their trans- 
actions with him (as they at length learned), that they were 
incited by the discovery to avenge their wrongs ; and in the fall 
of 1631, making their way one evening to the island, Scitterygus- 
set, 5 an Indian chief, and some of his tribe, killed Bagnall and a 
man associated with him, plundered his house and then burned 

•undoubtedly large. Families were beginning to make their way hither. 
The center of the English fishing interests were in this vicinity. 

1 Me. Hist, and Gen. Recorder, 1884, 62. 

2 Me. Hist. Society'' s Documentary Series, III, 5. 
8 Me. Hist, and Gen. Recorder, 1884, 61. 

* Winthrop, Journal, 30. 

5 Concerning him see Willis, History of Portland, 26. 



200 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

it. 1 On being informed of the tragedy, Walter Neale, at Piscata- 
qua, sent a party thither in pursuit of the murderers. On their 
arrival they found at the island an Indian, known as Black Will, 
whom they hung in retaliation for the murders committed by the 
Indians. But it was soon ascertained, if it had not been learned 
before, that Indians could retaliate as well as white men ; and in 
the winter following, finding an Englishman who was exploring 

1 Thomas Morton, New English Canaan, 78, says, "A servant of mine 
[referring to Bagnall] in five years was thought to have one thousand pounds 
in ready gold gotten by beaver, when he died". May 11, 1855, a small 
earthen vessel containing gold and silver coins was ploughed up on Rich- 
mond's island. Specimens of these coins are in the possession of the Maine 
Historical Society, and a photographic representation of the vessel and some 
of the coins faces page 7 of the Trelawny Papers. In the Me. Hist. Soci- 
ety' 's Coll., Series I, 6, 137-147, Hon. William Willis gives an interesting 
account of these coins, their discovery, etc. The oldest is of the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth. Of the silver coins there were four one shilling pieces, 
sixteen sixpences, one groat or fourpenny piece and two half groats. The 
shillings have no date, but all the sixpences and some of the smaller pieces 
have dates extending from 1564 to 1593. Of the reign of James I, there were 
four one shilling pieces and one sixpence ; the shillings not dated, the six- 
pence bearing date 1606. Of the reign of Charles I, there were but one 
shilling and one sixpence, the last bearing date 1625. Of the gold coins 
there were twenty-one, of which ten were sovereigns of the reign of James 
I, and of the value of twenty shillings each ; there were half sovereigns or 
double crowns, of the value of ten shillings each ; seven were sovereigns of 
the reign of Charles I, and one was a Scottish coin of the last year of the reign 
of James as king of Scotland onty, and dated 1602. It was of the size and 
value of the half sovereign or double crown. None of the English gold coins 
had dates, and all of the coins, both silver and gold, were much thinner and 
broader than modern coins of similar value. The impressions on those in 
possession of the Maine Historical Society are clear and distinct, especially 
upon the gold coins, which are less worn than the silver, and nearly as 
bright as when issued. In the vessel a wedding signet ring of fine gold was 
found, bearing the letters "G. V." and the figure of two united hearts with 
the words, "Death only Partes". Mr. Willis was of the opinion that the 
deposit of coins and ring was connected with the fate of Walter Bagnall. 
December 2, 1631, a grant of this island was made to Bagnall by the council 
for New England, but he was killed before receiving it. In the grant it 
was stated that he had been in New England seven years. See Farnham 
Papers, I, 162, 163. 



NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS. 201 

up the Saco river, they meted out to him the same punishment 
that Neale's men had meted out to Black Will. 1 

But the new movement toward the coast of Maine was also soon 
in evidence by reason of the applications frequently made about 
this time to the council for New England for grants of land under 
the authority that the council received in the great patent for 
New England, November 3, 1620. Two such grants were made 
February 12, 1630. One of these was to Thomas Lewis and Rich- 
ard Bonighton [Bonython] , the land granted being on the north 
side of the Saco river and included the land now occupied by the 
city of Saco. Lewis, it was stated in the grant, had already been 
at the charge of transporting hither himself and others for the 
purpose of seeking a favorable location for a colony, "and doth 
now wholly intend, by God's assistance, with his associates to 
plant there, both for the good of [his] majesty's realms and domin- 
ions, and for the propagation of [the] Christian religion among 
those infidels". They also purposed, at their own costs, to trans- 
port fifty persons thither within seven years next ensuing. 2 

The other grant was made to John Oldham and Richard Vines, 3 
and included the land south of the Saco river, now occupied by 
the city of Biddeford. Oldham, it is stated in the grant, had at 
that time lived in New England six years, had already at his own 
costs transported hither and established divers persons, and in 
effecting so good a work had labored hard and suffered much. 
Moreover, both Oldham and Vines had undertaken at their own 
expense to bring to the Maine coast fifty persons in the space of 
seven years next ensuing, here "to plant and inhabit", having in 
view the advancement of the general plantation of the country 

1 Hubbard, General History of New England, 142, 145, 169. 

2 Farnham Papers, I, 117-121. 

3 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 132, note, 
calls Vines the founder of Biddeford, which he named doubtless in honor of 
Bideford, England, in which locality the Vines family resided. Vines rep- 
resented the Gorges interests here for many years. Because of his rela- 
tions with Gorges he was in frequent conflict with George Cleeve, the 
founder of Portland. 



202 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

with provision for holding it as a part of England's territory. 1 
March 13, 1630, another grant, commonly known as the Mus- 
congus or Waldo patent, was made by the council for New Eng- 
land to John Beauchamp of Eondon and Thomas Eeverett of 
Boston, England. Beauchamp was one of the Eondon adventur- 
ers in the Pilgrim enterprise, and in the agreement of November 
15, 1 62 7, 2 he is mentioned as one of the five who were deputed by 
the adventurers to receipt in full for the Pilgrim indebtedness,, 
when the Plymouth settlers should have paid the eighteen hundred 
pounds for which they were holden in that agreement. Thomas 
Eeverett, about the time when this grant of land was made, was- 
an alderman of the borough of Boston, England, and a highly 
esteemed friend of Rev. John Cotton, vicar of St. Botolph's. 
church in that place. He may have been one of those who accom- 
panied Mr. Cotton to Southampton, when John Winthrop's com- 
pany embarked for New England, and when Mr. Cotton preached 
the farewell sermon, "God's Promise to his Plantation". Subse- 
quently both Cotton and Eeverett made their way to Boston in 
New England. At the ordination of Mr. Cotton as teacher of 
the church in Boston, Mr. Eeverett was chosen one of the two 
"Ruling Elders" of the church ; and he continued prominent in 
civil and religious affairs in Boston during the remainder of his. 
useful and honored life. 3 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 121-125. The same persons— William Blackstone,. 
William Jefferris, and Edward Hilton—were authorized by the council to- 
give possession both to Lewis and Bonighton [Bonython] and to Oldham 
and Vines. 

2 Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, Mass. Hist. Soc, Ed. 1913,. 
II, 4, 7. 

3 John Leverett, only son of Thomas Leverett, born in Boston, England, 
July 7, 1616, had a distinguished career. He was made a freeman of the 
Massachusetts Bay colony, May 13, 1640. His sympathies were with the 
Parliamentary party in England ; and as early as 1644, he participated in 
the civil war there, having the command of the Rainsborrow regiment- 
Returning to his New England home, he was a selectman in Boston in 1651 ; 
member of the legislature in 1652 and 1653 ; major general of Massachu- 
setts military forces in 1663 ; deputy governor of Massachusetts in 1671, and 



NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS. 203 

As expressed in the patent, the grant included "all and singu- 
lar those lands, tenements and hereditaments whatsoever, with 
the appurtenances thereof, in New England aforesaid, which are 
situate, lying and being within or between a place thence com- 
monly called or known by the name of Musrongruss, toward the 
south, or southwest and a straight line extending from thence 
directly ten leagues up into the mainland and continent thence 
toward the great sea commonly called the south sea, and the ut- 
most limits of the space of ten leagues on the north 

and northeast of a river in New England aforesaid, commonly 
called Penobscot, towards the north and northeast and the great 
sea commonly called the western ocean, towards the east, and a 
straight and direct line extending from the most western part 
and point of the said straight line which extends from Mecongoss 
aforesaid towards the south sea to the uttermost northern limits 
of the said ten leagues on the north side of the said river of 

Penobscot towards the west together with all islands 

that lie and be within the space of three miles of the said lands 
and premises or any of them", etc. 1 

Neither John Beauchamp nor Thomas Leverett, so far as appears, 
made any use of this grant ; but through Thomas I,everett, the 
surviving patentee, the grant descended to John Leverett of 
Cambridge, Mass., "great grandson and heir-at-law of Thomas 
I^everett", who, in 1719, admitted other direct and lineal descend- 
ants of Thomas L,everett to membership in a land company known 
as "The Lincolnshire Company and Twenty Associates", under 

governor in 1673 and until his death in 1679. See Memoir of Sir John Lev- 
erett, Knight, Governor of Massachusetts, by Charles F,. L,everett, Boston, 

1856. 

1 It is stated in the Farnham Papers, I, 126, that this patent was 
destroyed by fire about 1833, after it came into the possession of the Knox 
family. This is an error. Mr. Henry A. Pierce, of Boston, presented the 
original patent, on parchment, to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 
1853. See Mass. Hist. Proceedings, II, 543. For a facsimile of the Mus- 
congus patent, see Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantations, Mass. Hist. 
Soc. Ed., II, 80. 



204 TH3 BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

which the affairs of the Muscongus grant continued to be man- 
aged. 1 

Still another grant, commonly known as the L,ygonia or Plough 
patent, was granted by the council for New England June 26, 
1630. The patent itself, so far as is known, has not been pre- 
served, but that such a grant was made is recorded by Winthrop 
in his journal under date of July 6, 1631, as follows: "A small 
ship of sixty tons arrived at Natascott [Nantasket], Mr. Graves, 
master. She brought ten passengers from L,ondon. They came 
with a patent for Sagadahoc, but not liking the place came hither. 
Their ship drew ten feet and went up to Watertown, but she ran 
on ground twice by the way. These were the company called the 
Husbandmen and their ship called the Plough. Most of them 
proved Familists and vanished away." 2 

Among the Pejepscot papers in possession of the Maine Histori- 
cal Society is a document entitled Abstract of the Title of Edward 
Rigby to the Province of Ligonia. 3 In this document, drawn 
up in 1686 by George Turfrey, attorney of Edward Rigby, 
a grandson of Sir Alexander Rigby, the recorded grantees are 
"Bryan Bincks, John Dye, John Smith", with whom were asso- 
ciated others whose names are not given. But Winthrop, who 
evidently saw the patent, adds to the above names Thomas Jupe 
and John Crispe. The date of the grant was June 26, 1630. As 
described in this Abstract, the territory granted by the patent 
was "the tract containing forty miles in length and forty miles in 
breadth upon the south side of the river Sagadahock with all bays, 
rivers, ports, inlets, creeks", etc., and this territory was to be 
known by the name of ' 'the Province of Iyigonia' ' . With a singu- 
lar disregard of the fact that in 1622 the council for New England 

1 See manuscript records of ' ' The Lincolnshire Company and Twenty 
Associates ", aland company organized for the management of affairs con- 
ducted under the Muscongus patent. This folio volume of 543 pages was 
presented to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1853, by Mr. Henry A. 
Pierce, together with the original patent, as mentioned in the preceding note. 

2 Winthrop, History of New England from 1630 to 1649, I, 58. 

3 Farnham Papers, I, 133-136. 



NUMEROUS.- GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS. 205 

had granted all the land between the Sagadahoc and the Merri- 
mac to Gorges and Mason, and that in 1629, in confirming the 
division of the land, the council had granted to Mason the terri- 
tory between the Merrimac and the Piscataqua, leaving to Gorges 
the territory between the Piscataqua and the Sagadahoc, the 
council now took from Gorges' territory a tract forty miles square 
and bestowed it upon this company of Husbandmen. But this 
action could not have been without Gorges' knowledge, as he was 
still an influential member of the council. Moreover, the name 
given in the patent to the territory thus granted was derived from 
the maiden name of his mother, a daughter of William I,ygon, 
and it may be supposed to have been suggested at least by Gorges 
himself. 1 

From Winthrop's statement, it seems probable that the Plough 
colonists, upon their arrival on the coast, proceeded first to the 
Sagadahoc. This may have been in April or May, 1631, as Win- 
throp's record seems to indicate that a little time was spent in 
exploring the Sagadahoc, seeking a favorable location for a set- 
tlement. Doubtless they were familiar with the story of the ex- 
perience of the Popham colonists in 1607-8, and that was not an 
encouraging one. In the absence of other records we have only 
Winthrop's brief statement concerning their visit to the Saga- 
dahoc, including the remark that "not liking the place" they 
headed the prow of the Plough down the coast. In all proba- 
bility, therefore, the disappointed Husbandmen examined no 
other location within the limits of their patent. 2 

1 The council for New England paid little attention to these matters . The 
Lygonia grant included territory already granted to Levett in 1623, also to 
Lewis and Bonighton and Oldham and Vines in 1630. 

2 Our information concerning these colonists is exceedingly limited. 
Among themselves they were known as a "company of Husbandmen". But 
Winthrop, in his brief reference to them, while making mention of them at 
first in the words, "These were the company called Husbandmen", closes 
his statement thus: "Most of them proved Familists". Unfortunately we 
are not helped by these added words, inasmuch as the Puritans were accus- 
tomed to apply the term "Familist" very loosely, making it a convenient 



206 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

But two vessels, bringing added Husbandmen, left London for 
the Sagadahoc in the following year, one it is said March 9 and 
the other March 12, 1632. 1 As the first company arrived at Boston, 
July 6, 1631, its members had ample opportunity, before the close 
of that season, for sending to L,ondon early information concern- 
ing their failure to find on the Sagadahoc a suitable location for 
the colony. Apparently, however, no such information was sent, 
certainly none that reached these added colonists or sufficiently 
disheartened them from making their way hither. These, too, 
soon ' 'vanished away' ' , as did the ten of the preceding year ; and 
after the record of a division of the assets of the company among 
those who had not "vanished away" we hear nothing more con- 
cerning the Husbandmen until April 7, 1643, when John Dye, 
John Smith, Thomas Jupe, and other survivors of the grantees of 
the Iyygonia patent, transferred all their estate, interest and claim 
"in the Province of L,ygonia", to Sir Alexander Rigby. 2 George 
Cleeve, now coming into prominence in connection with affairs in 
the Province of Maine, was instrumental in inducing Rigby to 
purchase the L,ygonia patent ; and it is this fact, and the added 

designation for persons who never heard of Hendrick Nicholas or of any of his 
widely differing followers. But these Husbandmen could not have been 
in any wise very bad if they found in Familism what the last edition of the 
Encyclopedia Britannica, under the article Familist, says was to be found 
in it — "In an age of strife and polemics, it seemed to afford a refuge for quiet, 
gentle spirits and meditative temperaments". Richard Dummer of New- 
bury, who came to New England with the second company of Husbandmen, 
and afterwards was governor of Massachusetts bay, became an associate 
member of the company in 1638. He had in his possession the Plough 
patent, and by order delivered the same to George Cleeve after its purchase 
by Sir Alexander Rigby. 

1 One account says the second vessel, the William and Francis, sailed April 
8, 1632 ; and that among the passengers were Edward Winslow and Rev. 
Stephen Bachiler, the aged pastor of the Husbandmen in London, transferred 
to missionary labors in the colony. 

2 Rigby saw service in the civil war in England in connection with the 
Parliamentary army, and was known as Col. Alexander Rigby. An extended 
notice of him will be found in the Me. Hist, and Gen. Recorder, II. See 
also Trelawny Papers, 365-367. 



NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS . 207 

fact that the patent came into Cleeve's possession, that give to it 
an interest in the history of colonial Maine that otherwise it 
would not have possessed. 1 

In 1631, in making grants of land, the council for New England 
was even more active than in the previous year. It was not until 
the latter part of the year, however, that this activity was mani- 
fested. The first of these grants was in the name of Thomas 
Cammock, a nephew of the Earl of Warwick, who at that time 
was president of the council. In this grant, which was made 
November 3, 1631, it is stated that Cammock had lived in New 
England "for these two years last past", and had there inhabited, 
planted and built "some convenient housing". It is supposed, 
therefore, that he came hither in 1629. It is known that he spent 
some time with Neale's company on the Piscataqua, and while he 
was there he is said to have taken up some land on the eastern 
bank of that river. In exploring farther up the coast, however, 
he found at Black Point, on the northern shore of Old Orchard 
bay, a more attractive location, and returning to England he 
obtained a grant of fifteen hundred acres on the east side of the 
Black Point [now Nonesuch] river and extending to the Spurwink 
river. 2 

Returning hither, in order to take possession of his grant, Cam- 
mock reached Richmond's island April 22, 1632. 3 It is supposed 
that he did not at once occupy his Black Point grant, but returned 
to the Piscataqua and resided there, where he had the "conven- 
ient housing" mentioned in the grant of 1631, and where he 
secured a grant of land from Gorges in 1633. This land at the 
Piscataqua he sold to James Treworgy in 1636, 4 and then, prob- 
ably, he took up his residence at Black Point on what is now 

1 Cleeve had seen this patent, and discovered its possible uses, when it was 
in the possession of Richard Dummer at Newbury. Baxter, Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 189. 

2 The Farnham Papers, I, 137-142. 

3 The Trelawny Papers, 18. 
* lb., 2. 



208 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

known as Prout's Neck. 1 Here he lived with his wife Margaret r 
and his faithful friend, Henry Josselyn. In 1638, Cammock was 
in England, 2 partly with reference to his patent, it would seem, 
as there was a disagreement concerning its bounds. On his 
return, he had as fellow voyagers, Sir Thomas Josselyn, the aged 
father of Henry Josselyn, and John Josselyn, Henry's brother. 
They accompanied Cammock to Black Point, and John Winter, on 
Richmond's island, writing July 30, 1638, to Robert Trelawny of 
Plymouth, Kngland, makes mention of their arrival as follows: 
"Mr. Josselyn's father is now come over, and another of his sons 
with him, and doth purpose to live there with him ; they live all 

yet with Captain Cammock Mr. Josselyn's father is 

an ancient old knight ; he is four-score years old wanting but 
two." 3 It is doubtful, however, if in coming hither Sir Thomas 
and his son John had in view anything more than a visit to Black 
Point, and such glimpses of England's new possessions as could 
be obtained in connection with such a visit, including a few days 
in Boston on their arrival in New England and at the time of 
their departure. 4 

Ivife at Black Point must have missed much by the departure of 
the "ancient old knight" and his versatile son John. Only 
glimpses of that life, however, are afforded us in the meagre 
records of that period. In one of these glimpses, we find Thomas 
Gorges, a nephew and deputy of Sir Ferdinando, confirming to 
Cammock March 15, 1641, by a deed, all the land granted to him 
by the council for New England, together with Stratton's island. & 

1 Samuel Checkley of Boston, Mass., deeded this land to Timothy Prout of 
Boston, March 24, 1727. The original deed is in the John Wingate Thornton 
Papers in the State Library at Augusta, I, 32. 

2 An Account of Two Voyages to New England, 1638, 1663, by John 
Josselyn, Gent., 9, 11, 12. 

3 The Trelawny Papers, 140. 

4 An Account of Two Voyages to New England, 1638, 1663, 13, 20, 25-27. 

5 York Deeds, II, folios 85, 86. On this island opposite Black Point, John 
Stratton is said to have lived before the grant to Cammock. See Trelawny 
Papers, 199. 



NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS. 209 

Cammock thus obtained that for which he had long contended, 
and he had the satisfaction of seeing his boundaries securely estab- 
lished. 

While on a voyage to the West Indies in 1643, Thomas Cam- 
mock died at Barbadoes. In making his will before leaving his 
home at Black Point, he bequeathed his property to Henry Jos- 
selyn, reserving for his widow five hundred acres. The widow 
subsequently married Henry Josselyn, her husband's counselor 
and friend, and Cammock' s acres remained undivided. 1 

Connected with the grant made to Richard Bradshaw by the 
council for New England November 4, 1631, there is somewhat 
of a mystery. It was a grant of fifteen hundred acres "above 
the head of Pashippscot [Pejepscot] on the north side thereof", 
the consideration being the expense Bradshaw had incurred "in 
his living there some years before' ' , and that he now purposed to 
settle at Pejepscot, with other friends and also servants. 2 The 
original grant has disappeared, and the above extract from the 
records of the council for New England contains all the informa- 
tion that has come down to us concerning it. Aside from this 
extract there is no evidence whatever that Richard Bradshaw had 
lived at Pejepscot "some years before", or at any time before; or 
that he now purposed to settle there. What we do know concern- 
ing him, or may infer, is this, that with others who were seeking 
homes for themselves in this part of the new world, he had made 
his way hither from England, moved thereto by the opportunities 
for settlement that were opening here. Doubtless after his arrival 
upon the coast, he spent some time in seeking a favorable location 
for residence. Such a location he found on the southern shore of 
Cape Elizabeth, east of the Spurwink river. Its attractions were 
easily discoverable, and Bradshaw lost no time in obtaining from 
Captain Walter Neale (who was supposed to have authority in 
these matters) such a "delivery" of this tract of land as would 

1 Trelawny Papers, 2. 

2 Farnham Papers, 150, 151. 

14 



210 the; beginnings of COLONIAL MAINE. 

give to him the right to claim it as his by pre-emption and occupa- 
tion. 

It was this tract, possibly, that Bradshaw sought to obtain from 
the council for New England, and that an error was made in care- 
lessly substituting Pashippscot for Spurwink 1 in recording the 
grant, inasmuch as Bradshaw in all probability had resided at 
Spurwink sometime when he applied for a grant, and was intend- 
ing still to remain there in accordance with the purpose announced 
in the grant. But Richard Tucker 2 and George Cleeve 3 had fixed 
their eyes upon the same favorable locality for a settlement, and 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 41. 

2 Worth, History of Plymouth [England~\, 85, mentions Tucker as with- 
out doubt a native of Devon, England. His name frequently occurs in the 
history of this part of colonial Maine, but generally in connection with the 
controversies concerning land titles, etc., with which he and his partner, 
George Cleeve, were inseparably connected for many years. Baxter, Tre- 
lawny Papers, 211, note, says concerning him : "He was evidently a man of 

far less importance in his day than Cleeve Their interests in 

lands was not divided, for as late as 1662 he joined his old partner in a deed 
of land on the Neck [Portland], at which time he was living on Sagamore 
Creek, in Portsmouth, N. H., where he doubtless died, as his widow was 
living there in 1681." 

3 Cleeve was a native of Plymouth, England (Worth, History of Plymouth, 
85). He was not only acquainted with Gorges, who for so many years 
was in command of the fort at Plymouth, but he had doubtless talked with 
him many times with reference to the opportunities for settlement that were 
opening for Englishmen in the Province of Maine. In Cleeve, Gorges evi- 
dently found a man of energy and decision, and he was ready to give him 
information and encouragement. The enthusiasm of Sir Ferdinando with 
reference to the brightening prospects here was evidently contagious, and 
in 1630, with his wife and daughter, Cleeve made his way to the Maine 
coast. With what purposes he came as to location is unknown, but he 
is soon found on the shore of Cape Elizabeth, not far from Richmond's 
island, where his long and troublesome life on this side of the sea seems to 
have begun. The story of that life, Mr. Baxter has told in his valuable 
work entitled George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 1630-1667, published by the 
Gorges Society in 1885. In no other work has the life of the founder of 
Portland been narrated with such fulness of detail, or with such an intelli- 
gent understanding of the facts connected with the history of the period in 
which Cleeve lived and labored. 



NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS. 211 

Bradshaw's purposes failed of accomplishment. Tucker was ready 
with money considerations to obtain the pre-emption right that 
Bradshaw had secured by Neale's "delivery". Cleeve, too, re- 
garded himself as having a valid claim to the same territory by 
virtue of a promise which Sir Ferdinando Gorges made to him 
concerning a grant before Cleeve left England. But Tucker and 
Cleeve were not rival claimants. They joined their interests, 1 and 
awaited a favorable opportunity for presenting to the council for 
New England a request for a patent covering the territory which 
they had pre-empted and occupied. Only failure and disappoint- 
ment, however, followed. Others had discovered the advantages 
of the location, and the coveted grant had already been made to 
them. 

This grant, dated December 1, 1631, was in the name of Robert 
Trelawny 2 and Moses Goodyear, 3 prominent merchants of Ply- 

1 Trelawny Papers, 206, 207. 

2 Robert Trelawny, born in Plymouth, County of Devon, March 25, 1598, 
belonged to a distinguished family in the west of England. His father, 
Robert Trelawny, settled in Plymouth in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 
became a successful merchant there, was thrice mayor of Plymouth, and his 
monument in St. Andrew's church (he died in 1627) records his benefactions 
to the poor as well as his civic honors. The son, who succeeded his father 
as a merchant, directed his attention to American business interests ; and 
when he secured his patent it was doubtless his purpose to enlarge his mer- 
cantile operations by availing himself of facilities there that now were within 
his reach. What he and his partner, Moses Goodyear, accomplished in con- 
nection with the patent is made known to us in a very interesting way in 
the Trelawny Papers, published by the Maine Historical Society in 1884. 
These papers were secured by the society through John Wingate Thornton, 
Esq., of Boston, Mass., who, about the year 1872, ascertained from the Rev. 
C. T. Collins Trelawny (died April 19, 1878), a descendant of Robert Tre- 
lawny, that in his ancestor's old home in the vicinity of Plymouth, known 
as Ham, and still occupied by the family, was a chest containing Robert Tre- 
lawny's papers. Mr. Thornton secured a list of these papers, and learned 
that they comprised not only many business letters, but the original patent 
of Richmond's island, etc., concerning which Willis {History of Portland, 
33) supposed that the wife of a descendant of Robert Jordan, ' 'needing some 
paper to keep her pastry from burning, took from a chest of papers Tre- 
lawny's patent, and used it for that purpose, which thus perished, like 



212 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

mouth, England. Doubtless they had had a part in the fishing 
and trading interests that for a score of years and more had 
attracted the attention of Plymouth adventurers. But with the 
enlargement of their operations they desired better accommoda- 

many other ancient and valuable manuscripts". Mr. Thornton visited Ply- 
mouth and secured these papers — a gift from the Trelawny family to the 
Maine Historical Society. On receiving the papers in 1875, he commenced 
to arrange them for publication, and some pages of his manuscript had been 
printed, when his death, greatly lamented, put an end to a task upon which 
he had entered with great interest. General John Marshall Brown purposed 
to continue Mr. Thornton's work, but the death of his father laid upon him 
duties that compelled him to relinquish the task. Fortunately, Mr. James P. 
Baxter was willing to undertake the work. His equipment for it had been 
obtained by long study and research at the sources of our colonial history ; 
and as the result of his labors we have in the Trelawny Papers a storehouse 
of valuable information concerning fishing and trading interests on the coast 
of Maine in the third and fourth decades of the seventeenth century. Also 
in these papers we are made acquainted with some of the more prominent 
characters in that early period ; while from them we get many interesting 
glimpses of family life, the proceedings of colonial courts, and the various 
movements connected with political affairs. An interesting sketch of Robert 
Trelawny, by Rev. C. T. Collins Trelawny, occupies the opening pages of 
the Trelawny Papers. 

3 Iyittle is known concerning Moses Goodyear beyond what is mentioned 
above. In the Trelawny Papers, 416, there is an abstract of Mrs. Trelawny's 
title to lands in New England. This was not the wife of Robert Trelawny, 
Goodyear's co-partner, as she died before her husband, but a Mrs. Trelawny 
of a later period, who was interested in establishing a claim to the land 
granted by the council for New Engand to Robert Trelawny and Moses 
Goodyear. In this abstract occurs the following: "Robert Trelawny, surviv- 
ing Moses Goodyear, who died the 26th day of March, 1637, became entitled 
to the whole lands granted them in jointenancy." This is a clear state- 
ment concerning the death of Moses Goodyear, Robert Trelawny's co-part- 
ner. Winter, writing to Robert Trelawny at Richmond's island, October 7, 
1640 {Trelawny Papers, 243), says : "and they [Thomas Gorges and Richard 
Vines] have charged their bills upon Mr. Moses Goodyear, of Plymouth, the 
elder", etc. Accordingly, there was in Plymonth, in 1640, a Moses Good- 
year, the elder, probably the father of Moses Goodyear, who was associated 
with Robert Trelawny in fishing and trading operations at Richmond's 
island. In Worth's History of Plymouth [England], 312, there is this 
record : "Moses Goodyear, merchant, left under will in 1663, two sums of 
50^" — one to the Hospital of Poor's Portion, and the other to the Old Alms- 



NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS. 213 

tions than they as yet possessed. Neither Trelawny nor Good- 
year had been on the New England coast. From time to time, 
however, others whom they knew had made their way hither and 
returned. When Thomas Cammock was in England, seeking a 
grant of land at Black Point, he visited Robert Trelawny at his 
fine residence in the vicinity of Plymouth. 1 This visit gave Tre- 
lawny a favorable opportunity for obtaining desired information 
with reference to business interests upon the coast of Maine. 
Evidently on his part there were many inquiries concerning loca- 
tions and business advantages. To Trelawny' s questions Cam- 
mock had ready answers, and Richmond's island and the well- 
wooded shores of Cape Elizabeth in full view of Black Point were 
doubtless mentioned as possessing just those advantages that Tre- 
lawny and Goodyear coveted as a suitable fishing and trading 
station. 

No time was lost by these enterprising merchants in securing 
such a grant as Cammock had suggested, and favorable action by 
the great council for New England followed December 1, 1631, 
just one month after the grant of Black Point was made to Cam- 
mock. The grant included all the territory between the grant 
made to Cammock and "the bay and river of Casco, extending 
and to be extended northwards into the main land so far as the 
limits and bounds of the lands granted to the said Captain Thomas 
Cammock", together with liberty to erect and maintain stages 
and places for preserving fish "in and upon and near the islands 
commonly called Richmond's island 2 and all other islands within 

house, his direction being that these sums should be laid out in the purchase 
of freehold lands for these two charities. ' ' The writer is inclined to consider 
the Moses Goodyear of this record as Moses Goodyear the elder, and the 
father of Moses Goodyear, who died in 1637. This will is in the manuscript 
collection in the office of the city clerk of Plymouth. It should be added 
that Moses Goodyear was a son-in-law of Abraham Jennings, the first owner 
of Monhegan. 

1 Trelawny Papers, 18. 

2 To this island Champlain gave the name Isle de Bacchus ( Voyages, 
Prince Society, II, 62). Winthrop says Walter Bagnall was living on Rich- 
mond's island in 1627. "Between this date and that of the visit of Cham- 



214 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

or near the limits and bounds aforesaid, which are not formerly 
granted to the said Captain Thomas Cammock' ' .* 

It will be noticed that only the use of Richmond's island was 
granted to Trelawny and Goodyear by the patent. The reason 
for this limitation is doubtless to be found in the fact that the 
members of the council, or at least some of them, had already 
committed themselves with reference to the disposition of Rich- 
mond's island; for on the following day, December 2, 1631, 2 a 
grant of that island, and fifteen hundred acres upon the main 
land, was made by the council to Walter Bagnall, whose connec- 
tion with the island has already been mentioned. Bagnall, it 
seems, had applied for a grant of the island, and doubtless had 
secured from Sir Ferdinando Gorges a promise that the grant 
should be made. Gorges, while holding to his promise, evidently 
allowed the grant to Trelawny and Goodyear to be recorded in 
such words that the use of the island was secured to them, while 
the title was held by Bagnall. In this way occasion was provided 
for endless controversies and troublesome litigations. Bagnall, 
however, died before his grant was made. His title, therefore, 
lapsed and Trelawny and Goodyear were left in undisputed posses- 
sion of a most desirable location for the development of large 
business plans and purposes. 

plain in 1605" , says Baxter {George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 19, 20), ' 'it acquired 
its name of Richman's or Richmond's island. Dim and uncertain are the 
glimpses we get of this period. We have the names of several men who 
were living in the house at Casko in 1630, and for a brief moment the shadowy 
curtain of the past is lifted, revealing to us one George Richmond of Bandon- 
Bridge in Ireland, the cradle of Puritanism in that unfortunate land [Tre- 
lawny Papers, 143, 144), but he suddenly disappears, leaving us perplexed 
and disappointed. Certain, however, is it that George Richmond was at 
the head of some enterprise, which employed men; which required the 
building of a vessel and the possession of a considerable stock of mer- 
chandise; and there seems to be reason to believe that he gave his name to 
this island, which was soon to become an important station for trade and a 
goal to which ships coming upon the coast should direct their course' ' . 

1 Farnham Papers, 1, 152-156. 

2 lb., 162, 163. 



NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS. 215 

Concerning the grant of two thousand acres of land at Cape 
Porpoise made by the council for New England to John Stratton, 
December 2, 1631, we have little information. Baxter says Strat- 
ton came hither from Shotley, Suffolk county, England. 1 The 
earlier settlers, as the reader already has noticed, sought the islands 
on the coast before establishing themselves upon the main land ; 
and in all probability, before Cammock discovered the attractive- 
ness of Black Point, Stratton was in possession of the two islands 2 
off Cammock' s location, and already known as Stratton 's islands. 
But when Cammock returned to England in order to secure a 
grant of Black Point, Stratton, possibly after consultation with 
Cammock, was impressed with the desirability of seeking in his 
own right a place for settlement on the main land. Cape Porpoise 
was not far away, and possessed advantages for fishing and trade 
that a man of Stratton 's experience was not likely to overlook. 
Application, accordingly, was made for a grant of that location. 
The patent as issued gave to Stratton two thousand acres, "but- 
ting upon the south side of border of the river or creek called by 
the name of Cape Porpus, and on the other side northwards creek 
mouth of Cape Porpus, into the south side of the harbor's mouth 
of Cape Porpus aforesaid, with all commodities and privileges 
proper for his necessary occasions, as by his said grant more at 
large appeareth". 3 The patent itself, however, long ago disap- 
peared, and that which "more at large" would appear if the orig- 
inal grant, or a copy, had been preserved, has disappeared with it, 
and only the above abstract of the limits of the grant has come 
down to us. 4 According to these Records the considerations 
that moved the members of the council to make the grant were 
that Stratton "had lived in New England these three years past" 

1 Trelawny Papers, 199. 

2 The larger island is still known as Stratton 's island; the other is called 
Bluff island. 

3 Farnham Papers, 163, 164. 

4 Records of the Great Council, Proceedings of the American Antiquarian 
Society, 1867, 100, 101. 



216 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE). 

and had expended 1,000^ in transporting cattle hither, providing 
care-takers, etc. It is not thought that Stratton lived long in his 
new settlement as his name is on the list of inhabitants in Salem, 
Mass., in 1637. His "Stratton islands", he conveyed to Thomas 
Cammock in 1640. 1 Of his Cape Porpoise grant, he was dispos- 
sessed by Thomas Gorges, who as the deputy governor of the 
Province of Maine was here in 1640-1643, representing the inter- 
ests of his cousin, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, in the government of 
New England. 2 But Stratton may not have regarded this as a 
loss. Winter, writing to Trelawny from Richmond's island, July 
7, 1634, mentioned the large number of new arrivals from Eng- 
land, but adds, "they all set themselves in the bay of Massachu- 
setts". It is possible that Stratton abandoned his acres at Cape 
Porpoise in order to join those who were making their way 
towards the more flourishing Massachusetts settlements. 

On the same day, December 2, 163 1, 3 the council for New 
England granted to Ferdinando Gorges, Lieut. Col. Walter Nor- 
ton and others, twelve thousand acres of land on each side of the 
Agamenticus river, together with one hundred acres of land 
adjoining for each colonist transported thereto within the next 
seven years, and who should abide there three years "either at 
one or several times". 4 The location was a peculiarly attractive 
one. Ferdinando Gorges, the first mentioned of the grantees, 
was the son and heir of John Gorges of London and the grandson 
and heir of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Referring in his Brief e Nar- 
ration? to this grant, Sir Ferdinando says that Lieut. Col. Nor- 

1 York Deeds, I, folios 85, 86. 

2 For an interesting sketch of Thomas Gorges, and also his will, see Bax- 
ter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 186-192. 

3 "On account of changes among the grantees a new patent of nearly the 
same tenure was issued March 12, 1632. ' ' Farnham Papers, I, 159. 

4 Farnham Papers, 159-161. Concerning a renewal of the grant to Fydward 
Godfrey and others in 1639, see Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, I, 
266. Search for the original of the grant of December 2, 1631, has not been 
rewarded. 

5 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 57. 



NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS. 217 

ton, "strongly suggested to the business of plantation", made 
him acquainted with his plans and purposes, and asked his aid in 
obtaining a patent, expressing at the same time his desire that 
Sir Ferdinando himself would consent to become "an undertaker 
with him' ' . Gorges declined any such close personal connection 
with the enterprise, but showed his deep interest in it by making 
his grandson, Ferdinando Gorges, his representative in connec- 
tion with the undertaking. A further glimpse of the enterprise 
Sir Ferdinando Gorges records in these words: "Hereupon he 
[lyieut. Col. Norton] and some of his associates hastened to take 
possession of their territories, carrying with them, their families, 
and other necessary provisions, and I sent over for my son my 
nephew, Captain William Gorges, who had been my lieutenant 
in the fort of Plymouth, with some other craftsmen for the build- 
ing of houses, and erecting of saw-mills". 1 

The hopes of Gorges with reference to his interests here were 
greatly strengthened by this plantation on the Agamenticus. At 
the first his thoughts with reference to an English settlement 
within the limits of his domain had centered in the region of the 
Sagadahoc. More and more they were centered here. The town 
that sprang up on the banks of the Agamenticus, and at first was 
known as Agamenticus, received at length from Gorges the name 
Gorgeana. L,ater, it came to be known as York, the name L,evett 
gave to his settlement in Casco bay in honor of York, England, 
his birthplace, and which now was again bestowed to commem- 
orate on this side of the sea that historic English town. 

Having made this grant near the southern limit of what is now 
known as the State of Maine, the council for New England 
returned to that part of the Maine coast which earliest received its 
attention; and on February 29, 1631, issued to Robert Aldworth 
and Giles Elbridge a patent conveying twelve thousand acres of 
land "to be laid out near the river commonly called or known by 
the name of Pemaquid". The grant also included, as in the 
Agamenticus grant and upon the same conditions, one hundred 

1 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges aud his Province of Maine, 58. 



218 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

acres of land for each person transported thither by those receiv- 
ing the grant of twelve thousand acres. The grant was made 
more specific by the statement that the twelve thousand acres 
were to be located ' 'next adjoining to the lands where the people 
or the servants of the said Robert Aldworth and Giles Elbridge 
are now seated or have inhabited for the space of three years last 
past. 1 

In these words there is clear evidence of the growth of coloniz- 
ing efforts on this part of the Maine coast. Robert Aldworth and 
Giles Elbridge have already been mentioned in connection with 
the sale of Monhegan, which they purchased in 1626 of Abraham 
Jennings. Aldworth and Elbridge, prominent merchants in Bris- 
tol, England, bought the island for the purpose of securing greater 
advantages in the prosecution of their business interests. They 
now sought to enlarge these interests by establishing their varied 
operations on the main land. In fact, they seem already, in part 
at least, to have transferred their business interests thither, and 
only needed enlarged opportunities and facilities in order to 
develop a prosperous English community on American soil. In 
all probability they had received advice and encouragement in 
these proceedings from Abraham Shurt, whom they sent hither 
as their agent in the purchase of Monhegan. A resident of Pema- 
quid, he had been there long enough to become familiar with the 
advantages which the place offered for business purposes, and 
for introducing colonists to favorable locations for settlement. 
Unquestionably, too, large land-ownership had its attractiveness 
to English eyes. In all probability, also, the issue of the Mus- 
congus grant of the preceding year was not without influence 
upon Aldworth and Elbridge. They lost no time, therefore, in 
securing from the council for New England the grant that meant 

1 Farnham Papers, 165-172. A certified copy of this patent, made on 
parchment for notarial purposes, is in the library of the American Antiqua- 
rian Society at Worcester, Mass. In 1737, the patent was recorded at York. 
See manuscript volume of York Deeds, XVIII, folios 112-114. The original 
has disappeared. 



NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLE MENTS. 219 

so much, to them in connection with their varied business 
interests. 

The date of the grant is noteworthy, as it was issued by the 
council on February 29, and therefore in leap year. 1 Its limits, 
also, are noteworthy because of their indefiniteness. The grant 
was to be laid out "near the river commonly called or known by 
the name of Pemaquid", and "along the sea coast as the coast 
lyeth, and so up the river as far as may contain the said twelve 
thousand acres". If there were difficulties in determining the 
bounds of a grant thus laid out, the difficulties were easily 
removed, according to a deposition made by Abraham Shurt 
December 25, 1662. Shurt was then about fourscore years old, 
and his memory was not good when he mentioned dates ; but he 
seems to have been clear in his recollection that when Captain 
Walter Xeale. at the request of Aldworth and Elbridge, placed 
him in possession of the twelve thousand acres, the grant was 
made to extend "from the head of the river of Damariscotta to 
the head of the river of Muscongus and between it to the sea. 

Damariscove was included as belonging to Pemaquid, 

it being an island situate and lying within three leagues of Pema- 
quid Point". 2 

Another matter of interest in connection with the grant is the 
provision it contained for the establishment of civil government 
within its limits, the grantees being given authority for incorpora- 
tion "by some usual and fit name and title, with liberty 

to make orders, laws, ordinances and constitutions for the rule, 
government, ordering and directing of all persons to be trans- 
ported and settled upon lands hereby granted, intended to be 
granted or hereafter to be granted' ' . With the increase of set- 
tlers, the need of laws and the administration of law would read- 
ily appear, and the inference doubtless is not unwarranted that 
this provision was included in the patent at the suggestion of 

1 February 29, 1631, is old style. 

2 Report of Commissioners to Investigate the Causes of the Difficulties in 
the County of Lincoln, 40. 



220 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

Abraham Shurt, who, from what is known concerning him, may- 
be regarded as standing for law and order at Pemaquid and 
vicinity. 1 

1 Farnham Papers, 170. There was much complaint of the prevalence of 
lawlessness in the early settlements. Winter, writing to Robert Trelawny 
from Richmond's island, June 26, 1635, said : "Here lacks good government 
in the land, for a great many men deal very ill here for want of govern- 
ment." Trelawny Papers ', 61 . 



JiyVlftiyrvyJ'' 

C ;._ fry-/ 1 tyofd^ t/UWllft- 



■ m>\ 




\J~ 





J- 



' Uv . H Jfi , J?S • / to 

> 



, ^Jojja.. t ,„, 





Affidavit of Richard Vines and Henry Josselyn, October 3, 1640. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Some Settlement Ceashings. 

BUT what of Cleeve and Tucker, who in their cabin on the 
Spurwink soon received from Winter, the agent of Tre- 
lawny and Goodyear, orders to quit? Although Tucker 
had purchased of Richard Bradshaw his claim to the land, and 
had been placed in legal possession of the same by Captain Walter 
Neale, the representative of the council for New England in such 
transactions, Winter denied that Neale had any authority for such 
a delivery, and called attention to the fact that the council for 
New England had assigned and confirmed the grant that he had 
exhibited to the claimants. Moreover, as to Cleeve's assertion of 
a pre-emption right, because of a promise made by Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges, Winter refused to listen, insisting that it had no founda- 
tion inasmuch as Cleeve could show neither when nor where the 
promise was made. 1 

Winter arrived at Richmond's island about April 17, 1632. 2 It 
was stated in the patent he brought that possession of the territory 
granted by it was to be given by Walter Neale, Henry Josselyn 
and Richard Vines, "or any of them". The mention of Walter 
Neale is against Winter's contention as to the services of Neale 
in connection with Richard Bradshaw' s grant ; and it may have 
been on this account that Winter secured the services of Richard 
Vines in placing Trelawny and Goodyear in legal possession of 
the territory. This formal action was not taken until July 21, 8 
or about three months after Winter's arrival. Trelawny says that 
permission was given to Cleeve and Tucker "to enjoy a first and 

1 Trelawny Papers, 229, 230. 

2 lb., 18. 

3 lb., 17. 



222 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

second crop" 1 before leaving the Spurwink ; and Winter makes 
the added statement concerning his conferences with the dispos- 
sessed parties that he proffered to Cleeve — if he so pleased — an 
opportunity to become a tenant of Robert Trelawny "in some 
other part of his land", and "on such conditions" as he (Winter) 
should make. 2 Cleeve 's ready response to this offer, "that he 
would be tenant to never a man in New England", 3 was a mani- 
festation of an independent, freedom-loving spirit that evidently 
was characteristic of the man. In leaving England and making 
his way hither, he had turned his back upon a system of tenancy 
with whose practical workings he was familiar, and the evils of 
which he desired to escape. He had caught the breath of a new 
era, and animated by it he exhibited an uprising of soul and an 
assertion of personal freedom that often in later years found 
expression among British colonists upon American soil, and espe- 
cially in those battle years that witnessed the colonists' protracted 
struggle for American independence. 

The work Winter had planned for himself in this preliminary 
visit to Richmond's island was now accomplished. He had placed 
Trelawny and Goodyear in possession of their lands, and had 
gained information that would be valuable in securing men and 
materials for such fishing and trading operations as his employers 
had in view when they secured their grant from the council for 
New England. Accordingly, leaving their interests in the care 
of a few men whom he found at Casco, and were available for 
such a purpose, Winter sailed for Plymouth, England, well satis- 
fied with the success he had already achieved. 

In the autumn that followed, Cleeve and Tucker gathered their 
little^harvest at the Spurwink, and then came the long, cold win- 
ter. It afforded them time for needed deliberation with reference 
to the course they should pursue under their changed circum- 
stances. It was evident that little was to be expected from any 

1 Trelawny Papers, 102. 

2 lb., 230. 

3 lb., 265. 



SOME SETTLEMENT CLASHINGS. 223 

added assertion of territorial rights supposed to have been secured 
by Tucker in his purchase from Bradshaw. Tucker had nothing 
to show that the Bradshaw claim rested upon any valid grounds. 
The patent under which Bradshaw had been given possession of 
Cape Elizabeth territory should have been transferred to Tucker 
in connection with that transaction ; but evidently this was not 
done. No mention whatever is made of it either by Tucker or 
Cleeve, and the patent does not seem to have been at any time in 
Tucker's possession. As also little prospect of a successful con- 
test was afforded by Cleeve' s claim to Cape Elizabeth territory on 
the ground of a promise from Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Cleeve and 
Tucker decided to abandon their coveted location on the Spur- 
wink and seek a place of settlement elsewhere. The neighboring 
coast, both southward and northward, was doubtless familiar to 
them. Possibly there was added exploration of suggested loca- 
tions. At all events, when the spring opened the question of 
location had been settled, and on "Winter's reappearance at Rich- 
mond's island on his return from England, March 2, 1633, * prepa- 
rations for removal had been made. A boat borrowed from Win- 
ter 2 carried their few household goods. In it, also, embarked 
Cleeve, his wife Joan, daughter Elizabeth, and servant, Oliver 
Weeks, together with Richard Tucker, Cleeve' s partner in the 
new enterprise as he had been in that now closed. Passing 
between Richmond's island and the main land, doubtless with 
many lingering glances backward while the shore line as far as 
Black Point was still in view, they soon rounded the rocky head- 
land now crowned by the white towers of the Cape Elizabeth 
lights and skirting the eastern shore of the cape at length entered 
the beautiful harbor, which L,evett discovered ten years before, 
and on whose shores he had purposed to establish his settlement. 
But Cleeve made no tarrying at the island on which L,evett 
erected his fortified house. Farther up the bay was the location 
he sought. Already it was coming into view — a peninsula heavily 

1 Trelawny Papers, 22. 

2 lb., 265. 



224 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

wooded, elevated at either extremity, and attractive in all its out- 
lines. In the valley separating its hilly extremities, a brook 
hastened on its way to the waters of the harbor. The Indians 
called the place Machegonne. An authority on Abenaki words 
says the designation signifies a bad or worthless camp. 1 Such, 
however, was not the camp that Cleeve now made for himself and 
his companions. Certainly a more favorable location for a settle- 
ment could not be desired. Here was a harbor deeper, more spa- 
cious and more easily accessible than could be found at most 
places along the coast. Here, too, were advantages for fishing 
interests and for traffic with the Indians such as even Richmond's 
island did not possess. The whole scene was animating, inspir- 
ing ; and directing his boat into a small cove on the harbor front 
of Machegonne, near the outlet of Machegonne' s brook, Cleeve 
landed his little company and entered upon what he hoped would 
prove a permanent abode. 2 Hard work he must expect, but from 
hard work he did not shrink. An opening at once was made in 
the fair forest, extending back from the pebbly beach, and it was 
not long before the beginnings of a comfortable settlement were 
easily discoverable. 

But what security had Cleeve and Tucker that they would be 
allowed to remain at Machegonne unmolested ? In both, the ques- 
tion must have awakened anxious thoughts as often as it recurred . 
An announcement by Winter, that Machegonne was within the 
limits of the Trelawny patent, doubtless first occasioned anxiety. 
How soon the announcement was made after Cleeve and Tucker 
established themselves at Machegonne is not known. Robert 
Trelawny, in a letter to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, written in the 
early part of 1637, complained of Cleeve' s encroachment upon 
"lands he is now planted on, being mine by patent", 8 and asked 

1 Trelawny Papers, 225. 

2 Willis, History of Portland, 46, says Cleeve and Tucker erected their 
house on the corner of Hancock and Fore streets. Their cornfield extended 
westerly toward Clay cove. The location is fixed by a comparison of several 
documents cited by Willis. 

3 Trelawny Papers, 104. 



SOME) SETTLEMENT CEASHINGS. 225 

assistance in removing him from the Trelawny acres, which he 
claimed extended "about two miles up in the river of Casco 
beyond his [Cleeve's] dwelling". Unquestionably Winter was 
authority for the statement. His correspondence with Trelawny 
shows that he regarded Cleeve at Machegonne as still trespassing 
upon the Trelawny grant. Plainly this was a misrepresentation 
upon Winter's part. In a description of the grant which Winter 
had sent to Trelawny, Machegonne found no place. In fact, the 
patent itself, which made "the bay and river of Casco" the 
northern limit of the Trelawny patent, should have made the mis- 
representation impossible. 

But there were other considerations that impressed upon Cleeve 
and Tucker the importance of obtaining as soon as possible a valid 
title to the territory upon which they had located at Machegonne. 
In this undertaking, as in the troubles at Spurwink, Cleeve was 
most in evidence. The difficulties of the situation he well under- 
stood, but they must be surmounted. First of all he turned 1 to 
the proclamation of James I, offering one hundred and fifty acres 
of land to any of the king's subjects, who at his own expense 
should make his way to the American coast with the purpose of 
establishing a home there ; also the same number of acres to any 
person whom he should bring with him. Little encouragement, 
however, could he have received from that source. Not only had 
the king died and in all probability his proclamation with him, 
but Machegonne had been granted to Levett, and claim to posses- 
sion under such circumstances needed some valid support. 

As has already been stated, Levett died at sea in 1630. In all 
probability Cleeve commenced an early search with reference to 
the ownership of Levett' s patent. Maverick says 2 it was pur- 

1 Trelawny Papers, 108. 

2 This is Maverick's record: "About the year 1632 [1623] there was a 
patent granted to one Captain Christopher Levett for 6000 acres of land 
which he took up in this bay [Casco bay] near Cape Elizabeth, and built a 
good house and fortified well on an island lying before Casco river. This 
he sold and his interest in the patent to Mr. Ceeley, Mr. Jope and Company 
of Plymouth". Proceedings of Mass. Hist. Society, Series II, 1, 232. 

15 



226 THK BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINS. 

chased by some Plymouth merchants. If so, it was after I^evett's 
death probably. Whether the patent remained in their hands, or 
was sold to other parties, is unknown. Another owner of the 
patent, however, is mentioned by Robert Trelawny in a letter to 
Gorges in which he complains of Cleeve as going about "under a 
dead and outworn title to out me of the best part of my patent, 
being that on which he is seated and a great part thereabout, say- 
ing it was formerly granted to one L,evite [Levett] and by him to 
one Wright." 1 It might be inferred from these words that when 
this letter was written Trelawny supposed that Cleeve, through 
Wright or some other party, had secured possession of L,evett's 
grant. There is no evidence, however, that this was the fact. In 
all probability the impression Trelawny had received had no other 
foundation than Winter's report of some careless remark made by 
Cleeve, in denying that Machegonne was within the limits of 
Trelawny 's patent. Certainly L,evett's patent, so far as is known, 
was never in Cleeve 's possession. 

But this was not the only claim made by Winter for territory 
not included in Trelawny' s patent. Walter Neale, in laying out 
Cammock's grant, made the Spurwink river Cammock's eastern 
boundary ; and this fact was recognized by Winter, 2 only he 
insisted that the boundary was not to be found in the windings of 
the Spurwink, but in a line drawn due north from the mouth of 
the river. Such a boundary would include in the Trelawny grant 
some desirable grass lands which otherwise would be included in 
Cammock's territory. 

In the summer of 1635, Winter left the Richmond's island 
interests of his employers in the care of a subordinate, and took 
passage for England. His correspondence with Trelawny throws 
no light upon the occasion of his visit, which seems to have been 
arranged somewhat suddenly. On his arrival, however, he was 
not likely to put first things last. His quarrel with Cammock 
was evidently the matter that was most prominent in his thoughts, 

1 Trelawny Papers, 102, 103. 

2 Trelawny Papers, 63. 



some; settlement clashings. 227 

and he doubtless sought an early opportunity in which to present 
his side of the case to Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Gorges, however, 
would not give any decision without hearing from Cammock, and 
Winter, who had urged his views with his usual vigor, doubtless 
was assured in diplomatic terms that a settlement of the matter 
would follow in due time, also official recognition of Winter. 

Undoubtedly Winter made much of this interview on his return 
to Richmond's island in May, 1636. When, however, the 
announcement of the settlement came, it was found that Cammock 
was left in the possession of the territory he claimed; but "for 
the better settling and satisfaction of both parties", Gorges gave 
directions for an enlargement of the Trelawny grant by the addi- 
tion of two thousand acres more "towards the river of Casco". 
Gorges also directed that to John Winter, "governor of Mr. Tre- 
lawny 's people", there should be given "such authority as hath 
the rest of the justices in these my limits, that thereby he may be 
the better enabled to second and further the peaceable happiness 
of what belongs unto me". 1 

This announcement, and especially Gorges' recognition of Win- 
ter as an official of some importance, very naturally increased 
Cleeve's apprehensions of insecurity at Machegonne, and im- 
pressed him strongly with the necessity of prompt and strenuous 
action in seeking to protect his interests there. Accordingly, he 
decided to proceed at once to England, in order to present his 
case to Gorges in person. 

There is no information concerning the way in which Cleeve 
journeyed. Trading and fishing vessels had long been accus- 
tomed to anchor in the harbor at Machegonne. On one of these 
doubtless he embarked. Funds he would not lack, inasmuch as 
his opportunities for traffic with the Indians must have furnished 
him with whatever was necessary for such a journey. On his 
arrival in England he lost no time in seeking an interview with 
Gorges. Unquestionably he reminded the aged knight of the 
encouragement he received in the promise of a grant of land when 

1 Trelawny Papers, 98, 99. 



228 THK BEGINNINGS OP* COLONIAL MAINE. 

he was inquiring with reference to settling in New England, and 
in accordance with which he concluded to seek his fortune in the 
new world. Then followed the story of his location on the banks 
of the Spurwink, of his ejection by Winter and of his removal 
to Machegonne ; also of his need of security there. It was a 
straightforward, earnest appeal, and it found favor with Sir Fer- 
dinando. Soon after the opening of the new year — January 27, 
1637 — Gorges issued a patent to George Cleeve and Richard 
Tucker "of a neck of land called by the Indians Machegonne and 
now and forever from henceforth to be called or known by the 
name of Stagomor, 1 and so along the same westwardly as it tend- 
eth to the first fall of a little river issuing out of a very small 
pond, and from thence over land to the falls of Pessumpsca [Pre- 
sumpscot] , being the first falls in that river upon a straight line 
containing by estimation from fall to fall as aforesaid near about 

one English mile estimated in the whole to be fifteen 

hundred acres or thereabout, as also an island adjacent 

commonly called or known by the name of Hog island". 2 

This grant to Cleeve and Tucker, it will be noticed, did not 
proceed from the council for New England, but from Gorges him- 
self. The council for New England was in a moribund condition. 
Its recent activity in making grants of land was not evidence of 
new, vigorous life in the council itself, following years of great 
and increasing discouragement in its colonizing efforts in New 
England ; but rather was it evidence of the pressure brought upon 
its members either by those whose business interests sought new 

1 Stagomor (the modern Stogumber), in Somersetshire, England, was the 
birthplace of John Winter and Richard Tucker, the former having been 
christened January 9, 1575, and the latter January 22, 1594. This name, des- 
ignated by Sir Ferdinando Gorges, could hardly have been acceptable to 
Cleeve, even though Stagomor was the birthplace of Tucker as well as of 
Winter. "Not far away is Cleeve and Cleeve Bay, suggestive certainly of 
the early home of the Cleeve family, though of this there is no existing 
proof. ' ' Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, has an 
interesting note concerning Stagomor, I, 175. 

2 Baxter, George Cleeve, 216-221. Strictly it was a lease "to the end and 
full term of two thousand years". 



SOME SETTLEMENT CLASHINGS. 229 

fields for enlargement, or by those whose hopes for themselves 
and for their families prompted them to seek new homes and 
larger opportunities on this side of the sea. In a word, the coun- 
cil was ill constituted for conditions then existing in England. 
Its members stood with the king in his struggle to maintain the 
prerogatives to which Charles so tenaciously clung ; while in the 
country at large the sympathies of the people in increasing num- 
bers were with those who had arrayed themselves in opposition to 
the king. It was not yet civil war, but the country in its opposi- 
tion to a king ruling without a Parliament, levying taxes illegally, 
raising money by the sale of monopolies and in such other ways 
as ingenuity and government distress could invent, was fast drift- 
ing toward it. 1 

Few of the members of the council now attended its meetings ; 
but these few proceeded to carry into effect a plan which involved 
a surrender of the great charter of the council with the under- 
standing that the territory covered by it should be divided among 
themselves, a scheme at least suggestive of colossal self-interest. 2 
Such a division took place in Iyondon, February 13, 1635, when 
the whole territory of New England, beginning "at the middle of 
the entrance of Hudson's river eastward", following along the 
coast, was divided into eight parts, each of which, except the last 
two, was to have an additional section of ten thousand acres on 
the east side of the Sagadahoc. In this division Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges received the territory (assigned to him by the council in 
1622) extending from the Piscataqua to the Kennebec, and then 
designated as the Province of Maine. 3 

1 "His [Charles I] was a government not of fierce tyranny, but of petty 
annoyances. It was becoming every year not more odious, but more con- 
temptible. It inspired no one with respect and very few with good will. 
In 1636 the silence of the crowds which witnessed the king's entry into 
Oxford had given evidence of the isolation in which he stood." S. R. 
Gardiner, History of England, VIII, 223. 

2 "Let not the stockholders in modern corporations bemoan the degen- 
eracy of morals in boards of directorship in these prosaic times! Here was 
a scheme worthy of a Napoleonic financier of the nineteenth century." 
Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine , I, 167. 

3 Farnham Papers, I, 183-188. 



230 THE BEGINNINGS OF COEONIAI, MAINE). 

To regard this transaction merely as one of official aggrandize- 
ment, however, would be to lose sight of the real purpose that 
prompted it. The royalist party in England, standing in closest 
relations to those most prominent in the affairs of the Church of 
England, had for some time looked with disfavor upon the rapid 
growth and development of the Massachusetts bay colony. In 
its beginnings that colony attracted little attention in England on 
the part of high officials in church and state. Doubtless its 
charter received the approval of the king, either as a matter of 
formality only, or as opening the way for a desirable removal of 
disaffected people to distant parts. But it had been learned that 
New England was attracting those — and that, too, in large num- 
bers — whom old England could ill afford to lose. Moreover, the 
colony of Massachusetts bay was already giving evidence of such 
rapid development in the direction of self-government as to attract 
the attention and awaken even the fears of those who were fore- 
most in the counsels of the royalist party in England. In fact, 
as early as 1634, probably in April or May, in order that the gov- 
ernment might assume control of affairs in New England, the 
power of "protection and government" of the English colonies 
was placed by the king in the hands of eleven commissioners, 
prominent among whom was William Laud, 1 Archbishop of Can- 
terbury. These commissioners were authorized to make ' 'laws and 
orders for government of English colonies planted in foreign parts, 
with power to impose penalties and imprisonment for offences in 
ecclesiastical matters ; to remove governors and require an account 
of their government ; to appoint judges and magistrates and estab- 
lish courts to hear and determine all manner of complaints from 
the colonies ; to have power over all charters and patents ; and to 
revoke those surreptitiously obtained". 2 Evidently the king and 

1 Iyaud was a man of learning and a great patron of learning, but he was 
intolerant in the highest degree and used his position in enforcing ecclesi- 
astical and political measures that were extremely obnoxious. These brought 
upon him popular indignation and popular condemnation, and he was 
beheaded January 10, 1645. 

2 Colonial Papers, Charles I, VIII, No. 12, Public Records Office, Iyondon. 



SOME SETTLEMENT CEASHINGS. 231 

his advisers had reached the conclusion that if the New England 
colonists were to take to themselves "new forms of ecclesiastical 
and temporal government", the people of England would be likely 
before long to insist upon the same rights ; and existing tenden- 
cies were plainly in that direction. 

That Gorges not only was in close sympathy with I^aud and 
those who were associated with him in this new movement, but 
was actively engaged in promoting it, is evident from a letter that 
he addressed to the king May 12, 1634, 1 in which he suggested 
that New England should be divided into several provinces, to 
which should be assigned "governors and other assistants and 
officers for administration of public justice and preservation of the 
common peace". He also suggested that "both for the honor of 
his majesty and the satisfaction of such noble and generous spirits 

as willingly interest themselves in those undertakings 

that some person of honor may be assigned under the title of lord 
governor, or lord lieutenant, to represent his majesty for the set- 
tling of a public state". Among the officers regarded by Gorges 
as "proper to such a foundation" was one lord bishop, a chancel- 
lor, a treasurer, a marshal, an admiral, a master of the ordnance 
and a secretary of state, with such other councilors as might be 
thought necessary. In other words, "government of the people, 
by the people, for the people' ' , already established in New Eng- 
land, was to disappear ; and the several provinces, by which evi- 
dently was meant the eight divisions of the territory already made 
by allotment to members of the council, were to be governed by 
officers of royal appointment, exercising civil and ecclesiastical 
powers. 

These suggestions were favorably received by the king, and in 
a letter to Charles' secretary, Sir Francis Windebank, dated March 
21, 1635, 2 Gorges gratefully acknowledged the king's gracious 
pleasure in assigning him to the governorship of New England ; 
and made the added suggestion that expedition "be used in 

1 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 260-263. 

2 lb., 273, 274. 



232 the; beginnings op colonial mains. 

repealing of the patents of those already planted in the bay of 
Massachusetts, that there be not just cause left of contention 

when I shall arrive in those parts". Evidently when 

Gorges wrote this letter, he was confidently looking for the fulfil- 
ment of a long cherished hope in connection with the governorship 
of all New England. He had made haste in preparing "Consid- 
erations necessary to be resolved upon in settling the governor for 
New England" ; 1 and all things seemed to be moving in the direc- 
tion in which he and other advisers of the king with reference to 
affairs in New England had already marked out in their plan. 

Thus far the plan had unfolded in the way contemplated by 
those connected with it. But the procedure was slow, as Laud 
found in the affairs of England alone enough to occupy his atten- 
tion fully; but before the close of 1634, the lords commissioners 
issued an order 2 placing restrictions on emigration, prohibiting 
any one of sufficient means to be rated as "a subsidy man" to go 
to New England without a special license, and all persons of less 
means without taking the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, and 
securing a certificate of conformity from the parish minister. 

A declaration of the council for New England, giving its rea- 
sons for the surrender of its charter, followed, May 5, 1635. In 
this declaration a direct attack was made upon the Massachu- 
setts bay colonists for excluding "themselves from the public 
government of the council authorized for those affairs and made 
themselves a free people and so framed unto them- 
selves both new laws and new conceits of matters of religion, and 
forms of ecclesiastical and temporal orders and government". 8 

The formal act of the council in surrendering its charter to the 
king occurred June 17, 1635. 4 Such legal difficulties as stood in 

1 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, 265-268. 

2 Gardiner, History of England, VIII, 167. 

3 Farnham Papers, I, 199. 

4 lb., 203-205. The humble petition of the council for New England for 
the act of surrender of the great patent was presented to Charles I, May 1, 
1635. Farnham Papers, I, 201, 202. The council took action concerning it 
as above. 



SOME SETTLEMENT CEASHINGS. 



233 



the way of the transaction were easily removed before the end of 
the year; and on the application of the attorney general, the 
court of King's Bench declared the charter of the Massachusetts 
bay colony to be null and void. 

This last action, the Massachusetts bay colonists had already 
foreseen. In the various transactions leading up to it, reports of 
which soon reached them, they had received more than intima- 
tions of the peril threatening their infant liberties. Opposition 
was awakened, and this not only found expression in words, but 
in deeds. As early as March 4, 1635, the general court of the 
colony passed an order "that the fort at Castle island, now begun, 
shall be fully perfected, the ordnances mounted and every other 
thing about it finished"; and to this end the deputy governor was 
authorized "to press men for that work for so long time as in his 
discretion he shall think meet". 2 A military commission, also, 
was appointed, consisting of the governor, deputy governor and 
other prominent colonists, who were empowered "to dispose of 
all military affairs whatsoever". May 6, the commission was 
given additional powers such as "to appoint the general captain"; 
to order out the troops "upon any occasion they think meet; to 
make any defensive war as also to do whatsoever may be further 
behoofful for the good of the plantation in case of any war". 3 
September 3, a second order to press men "to help towards the 
finishing of the fort at Castle island" was passed ; and March 3, 
1636, fortifications on Fort Hill in Boston, also in Charlestown, 
were authorized. The spirit of the colonists was aroused, but to 
an extent of which the colonial records make no mention. 

In this uncertain state of affairs both at home and in New Eng- 
land, Sir Ferdinando Gorges was not unmindful of his Maine pos- 
sessions, and gave them such consideration as was in his power. 
Doubtless again and again representations had been made to him 
by Vines and others that there was need of some kind of govern- 

1 Gardiner, History of England, VIII, 167. 

2 Records of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay in New England, I, 139. 

3 lb., I, 146. 



234 tun BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINS. 

mental organization in the province for the proper administration 
of justice between man and man. In the existing condition of 
political matters in England, on account of a feeling of loyalty 
Gorges could not make arrangements that would take him out of 
the country ; but he gave his nephew, William Gorges, a commis- 
sion as governor of the Province of New Somersetshire (the new 
name by which the province was known), 1 and sent him hither as 
his representative. 

Upon his arrival on the coast in the early part of 1636, he seems 
to have taken up his residence in Saco, where he proceeded with- 
out delay to organize the institutions of civil government. Espe- 
cially was the province in need of a legal tribunal for the trial of 
such breaches of law and order as the increase of settlers upon 
the coast now urgently demanded. Gorges accordingly estab- 
lished at Saco a court of commissioners, which was composed of 
Governor Gorges, Captain Richard Bonython of Saco, Captain 
Thomas Cammock and Henry Josselyn of Black Point, Thomas 
Purchase of Pejepscot, Edward Godfrey of Agamenticus and 
Thomas Lewis of Winter Harbor. 2 The commissioners were sum- 
moned to meet at Saco, March 21, 1636, and court was opened on 
that day. Some simple form of government may have been insti- 
tuted previously at Saco by the settlers themselves ; but the gov- 
ernment established by Governor William Gorges was the first 
authorized organization attempted in the province. 

In the administration of the affairs of the province, the gov- 
ernor seems to have made a favorable impression. He remained in 
the country, however, a very short time, returning to England 
early in 1637. In all probability, like Robert Gorges, who came 
over in 1623 as governor and lieutenant general of New England, 
William Gorges did not find the position he was to occupy in any 
way congenial to him, and so sought an early release from the 
task to which he had been assigned. 

1 Winthrop, in his mention of the new province, makes its boundaries from 
"Cape Elizabeth to the Sagadahoc". Journal, I, 176. 

2 Early Records of Maine, I, 1. 



SOME SETTLEMENT C^ASHINGS. 235 

When Winter arrived in England in the summer of 1635, the 
council for New England had surrendered its charter. When he 
returned to Richmond's island in May of the following year, the 
plans of L,aud and his associates with reference to a general gov- 
ernment of New England were shaping themselves gradually. 
Sharing the views of Trelawny and the royalist and prelatical 
parties, Winter probably saw no peril in the movements in this 
direction which he must have seen were already in progress. To 
him these suggested an order of things, which doubtless he looked 
upon as making for the general advancement of colonial interests 
in New England. As to what Winter on his return said concern- 
ing these matters, there is no information ; but he hardly could 
have remained silent with reference to them. In all probability 
something directly or indirectly reached Cleeve from this source. 
At all events such information must have reached him from other 
sources, especially from the Massachusetts bay colonists, with 
whom settlers on the coast of Maine were now in frequent com- 
munication. Not only his own private affairs, therefore, had 
determined Cleeve in his resolutions to make his way at once to 
England, but a better understanding with reference to future 
prospects as to governmental relations here could hardly have 
been absent from his purposes. Possibly, too, he may have been 
moved by the thought that in such new relations he would be 
able to secure for himself some official position that would be help- 
ful to him in connection with his interests at Machegonne. In this 
he was much more successful than his ambitions, which now were 
beginning to dominate him, had even suggested. He soon learned 
that the movement to place Gorges at the head of the government 
of New England was still unaccomplished. 1 It had encountered 
obstacles that under existing circumstances were formidable, if 
not insurmountable. While not relinquishing further endeavors 

1 Winthrop says, ' 'The I^ord frustrated their designs" . Journal, 1630-1649, 
edited by J. K. Hosmer, I, 153. Several events indicated to Winthrop 
divine interpositions. One of these was that the strong new-built ship, that 
was to bring Gorges to New England as lord governor, fell to pieces in 



236 The beginnings oE colonial mAine. 

Gorges was as ready as ever to make any added attempt to 
advance the interests of New Somersetshire that seemed to prom- 
ise success. 

Here was Cleeve's opportunity for reaching such a position of 
influence as he had hoped would open to him in connection with 
his visit, and he at once entered into close relations with Gorges, 
who received him cordially and had an open ear for latest infor- 
mation concerning affairs in New Somersetshire. Of course 
Cleeve did not forget the business that was the occasion of his 
visit, and he had no difficulty in obtaining a grant of Machegonne ; * 
but having secured the ear of Gorges, Cleeve advanced to other 
matters. 

Possibly, before leaving home, he had learned of the purpose of 
William Gorges to resign the governorship of New Somersetshire 
and return to England. But even if he had not received such 
information, he must have been informed of the governor's 
intended resignation soon after his arrival by Sir Ferdinando him- 
self ; for we know that the future government of the province was 
one of the matters to which they gave consideration. And here 
Cleeve added to the favorable impression he had made upon 
Gorges by a suggestion that the government of the province 
should be placed in the hands of a commission that should include 
in its membership representative men of New England. Gorges 
already had urged such a joint government for all New England, 
but evidently his scheme was not acceptable to the leaders of the 
prelatical party in England, and it failed of adoption. But Gorges 
was supreme in his own Province of New Somersetshire, and he 
not only welcomed the suggestion but he gave Cleeve a place on 

launching. Another was the death of Captain John Mason, who had been 
more active than Gorges in the movement for establishing a vice-regal gov- 
ernment in New England. Concerning Mason, Winthrop wrote : "The last 
winter Captain Mason died. He was the chief mover in all the attempts 
against us, and was to have sent the general governor, and for this end was 
providing shipping ; but the lord in mercy, taking him away, all the busi- 
ness fell on sleep." Journal, 1, 181. 
1 Trelawny Papers, 110. 



SOME SETTLEMENT CLASHINGS. 237 

the commission, associating him with Winthrop and four promi- 
nent men in New England outside of the province. 

Cleeve had now achieved a degree of success in advancing his 
personal interests that must have exceeded largely his highest 
anticipations on leaving his home ; and in the closing days of 
March, 1637, he set sail from Bristol on his return, bearing with 
him his grant of Machegonne, also papers for the establishment 
of the government of New Somersetshire, and a commission, 
dated February 25, 1637, for letting and settling all or any part 
of Gorges' "lands or islands lying between the Cape Elizabeth and 
the entrance of Sagadahock river, and to go into the main land 
sixty miles". Cleeve reached his home late in May, or early in 
June, 1 for June 8, Arthur Mackworth; 2 as duly authorized, placed 
Cleeve and Tucker in legal possession of the territory upon which 
they had located a little more than four years before. It was a 
proud day for Cleeve and the little company 3 that witnessed the 
ancient "turf and twig" delivery in the clearing that had been 
made on the harbor shore, and their celebration of the happy event 
could not have lacked enthusiastic expression. 

In one way or another information with reference to the new 
order of things in the province soon reached the scattered settlers 
on the coast of Maine. Doubtless Winter, at Richmond's island, 
received such information as early as any of the New Somerset- 
shire colonists. Writing early in July to Trelawny, his employer, 
he informed him that Cleeve's grant from Gorges of fifteen hun- 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 69. 

2 He was a near neighbor of Cleeve, having settled at the mouth of the 
Presumpscot before Cleeve took up his residence at Machegonne. In 1637, 
he married Jane Andrews, widow of Samuel Andrews, who, with her hus- 
band probably, came hither from London in the same vessel with Mackworth. 
Mackworth died in 1657. For a fuller reference see Trelawny Papers, 213. 

3 The delivery was made by Thomas Lewis, John Bickford and George 
Frost. Lewis was associated with Captain Bonython on the northern bank of 
the Saco. Bickford, who lived at Oyster River, N. H., chanced to be in the 
vicinity of Machegonne. Frost was a resident of Winter Harbor. Michael 
Mitton, who accompanied Cleeve on his return from England, was also pres- 
ent and subsequently married Cleeve's daughter, Elizabeth. 



238 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

dred acres of land from Casco bay to the falls of the river of Casco, 
was an infringement upon Trelawny's territorial rights, as he and 
others thought. "You may please to advise Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges of it, to know if it be so or no", he added, in his indigna- 
tion at such a thought. Winter's attitude toward Sir Ferdinando 
evidently had somewhat changed, and his state of mind because 
of Gorges' recognition of Cleeve probably finds explanation in his 
added words to Trelawny : ' 'Sir Ferdinando Gorges hath made 
Cleeve governor of his province, as he reports ; now he thinks to 
wind all men to his will." * 

But the affairs of the colony were not in such a desperate condi- 
tion as Winter supposed. Having settled his own matters at 
Machegonne, Cleeve proceeded to Boston for consultation with 
Winthrop, having in his possession the papers he had received 
from Gorges relating to the government of New Somersetshire. 
Under date of June 26, 1637, Winthrop 2 made this record : "We 
had news of a commission granted in England to divers gentle- 
men here for the governing of New England, etc., 3 but instead 
thereof we received a commission from Sir Ferdinando Gorges to 
govern his Province of New Somersetshire, which is from Cape 
Elizabeth to Sagadahoc, and withal to oversee his servants and 
private affairs ; which was observed as a matter of no good dis- 
cretion, but passed in silence." Winthrop's silence, evidently, 
was toward Gorges. To Cleeve, however, he made courteous 
explanation, mentioning some technical reasons for declining to 
have any part in the proposed government of New Somersetshire 
— such as the discovery of an error in the name of one of the com- 
missioners, another had removed to Connecticut, etc. ; and besides 
he questioned Gorges' authority to appoint such a commission. 

1 Trelawny Papers, 111. 

2 Journal, Hosmer's Ed., I, 222. 

3 We have no details concerning the commission to which reference is here 
made. It was evidently appointed by the king during the earlier part of 
Cleeve's presence in England, and it is thought that Cleeve may have been 
given a place on it ; but it encountered strong opposition both from the Bay 
colonists and their friends in England and failed as Winthrop records. 



SOME SETTLEMENT CLASHINGS. 239 

In all probability, however, other and stronger reasons influenced 
Winthrop in declining the position tendered to him. The affairs 
of the Bay colony, both because of hostility in England and of 
differences existing among the colonists themselves, were in such 
a condition that Winthrop might well hesitate to turn his atten- 
tion to matters with which he had no concern, and to hold steadily 
and firmly to that singleness of purpose which characterized all his 
efforts in connection with New England colonization. 

It must have been a great disappointment to Cleeve to witness 
so soon the disappearance of the bright vision that had awakened 
within him hopes of new and larger successes in connection with 
his return to Machegonne. Still further must Cleeve have been 
chastened in spirit, when, after his return homeward, he learned 
that notwithstanding his grant of Machegonne from Sir Ferdi- 
nando Gorges, the rightfulness of his possession was denied by 
Winter as strongly as heretofore. Winter carried the matter to 
Trelawny, calling attention to a house built on the peninsula "a 
little above Cleeve' ' , 1 which he claimed was within the limits of 
Trelawny' s patent — a claim that was wholly without foundation, 
even as Winter's own statements concerning Trelawny 's boun- 
daries show. In another letter, dated July 29, 1637, Winter 
wrote, "I have given him [Cleeve] warning to depart betwixt this 
and Michaelmas". Apparently this interview, which was held 
July 26, was without much heat. While it was in progress, Cleeve 
produced a letter from Sir Ferdinando Gorges containing a sug- 
gestion that the matters in dispute between Cleeve and Winter 
should be referred to three "indeferent men". According to 
Winter's own account, he expressed no opinion upon this matter 
of arbitration, but left the decision with Trelawny. "I do desire 
to know," he wrote, "how I shall be freed from Cleeve for his 
first house before I enter upon his second ; and though I have 
given him warning to depart, I am desirous to live quiet here 
among the neighbors hereabout, if I may, considering we live 

1 Trelawny Papers, 111. 



240 THE BEGINNINGS OE COEONIAE MAINE. 

here among the heathen". 1 These words were written three days 
after the interview between these two neighbors, and on the part 
of the writer give evidence of subdued feelings that seem to have 
been occasioned by the fact that Cleeve, before leaving Richmond's 
island, served a warrant upon Winter to appear before the king 
in England October 11, to answer for the wrong he had suffered 
in being ejected from his house at Spurwink. 2 

Cleeve soon found that there were persons in the province 
beside Winter who were unfriendly to his interests. Vines and 
others, near neighbors of Winter and having like religious sym- 
pathies, wrote to Gorges in their displeasure because of the prom- 
inence he had given to Cleeve in connection with the affairs of 
New Somersetshire ; and their communications made such an 
impression upon Gorges that he addressed a letter to Vane, Win- 
throp and others in the Bay colony, 3 asking their aid in settling 
troubles in his province. Vane, however, had returned to Eng- 
land ; Winthrop saw no reason why he should depart from the 
position he had taken not to interfere in matters outside of the 
Province of Massachusetts Bay; the other parties also had excuses ; 
and the New Somersetshire colonists were left to attend to their 
own concerns. But though in the truce that followed, Cleeve 
remained in undisturbed possession of his grant, he must have 
felt somewhat insecure on account of the number and prominence 
of his opponents ; and he awaited further developments. 

1 Trelawny Papers, 118. 

2 Baxter, George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 75-77. 

3 lb., 224-226. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Added Settlements and General Conditions. 

MENTION has already been made of Thomas Purchase of 
Pejepscot, one of the commissioners associated with Wil- 
liam Gorges in the government of the Province of New 
Somersetshire. 1 It is supposed that he came to this country from 

1 Purchase was born in England about the year 1577. According to the 
record in the probate office at Salem, Mass., Thomas Purchase died in Lynn, 
May 11, 1677, aged one hundred and one years. There is no known relation- 
ship between him and the well-known author of Purchas' Pilgrimes; but John 
Winter of Richmond's island stated in a letter, dated August 2, 1641, that 
Purchase was a kinsman ( Trelawny Papers, 288) of Rev. Robert Jordan, who 
subsequently married Winter's daughter. Purchase was twice married. It 
is not known that he had any children by his first wife, Mary Gove. By his 
second wife, Elizabeth Williams, he had five children, of whom the names 
of only three have been preserved, Thomas, Jane and Elizabeth. In 1675, 
Purchase added to the grant made by the council for New England a large 
tract, which he is said to have purchased from the Indians. About the year 
1659, Nicholas Shapleigh of Kittery purchased of like parties Harpswell 
Neck and the island of Sebascodegan . July 4, 1685, the grant to Purchase 
and Way, and the land obtained by Nicholas Shapleigh, came into the pos- 
session of Richard Wharton, a Boston merchant. Also October 10, 1685, 
Eleazer Way of Hartford, Conn., son and heir of George Way, co-partner with 
Thomas Purchase, sold to Richard Wharton his inherited rights in the Pejep- 
scot patent. For fuller information see the biographical sketch of Thomas 
Purchase in Wheeler's History of Brunswick, Tops ham and Harpswell, 788- 
797. July 7, 1684, Worumbo and other Indian sagamores deeded additional 
lands on the Androscoggin river to Richard Wharton. It was Wharton's 
purpose by these various purchases to establish for himself a "manory" in 
New England. He died insolvent, however, in 1689. Captain Ephraim, as 
the administrator of Wharton's estate, sold his lands to the' Pejepscot pro- 
prietors November 5, 1714, and the deed was recorded at York during that 
month. See Farnham Papers, I, 361. The Pejepscot "records" and 
"papers" are in the archives of the Maine Historical Society, Portland, 
Maine. 

16 



242 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE). 

England about the year 1626, landing at Saco. He was there 
June 25, 1630, with Isaac Allerton, Captain Thomas Wiggin and 
others, when Richard Vines took legal possession of his grant on 
the south side of the Saco river. Doubtless after his arrival in 
the province, Purchase spent some time in seeking a favorable 
location for a settlement. From the eastern part of Casco bay- 
there was an Indian thoroughfare that led to the falls of the 
Pejepscot in what is now the town of Brunswick. Skirting the 
shores of Casco bay and journeying by this well-known route, 
Purchase probably reached the falls ; or he may have made his 
way thither by the Sagadahoc to Merrymeeting bay, and thence 
by the waters of the Pejepscot river. However this may be, by 
one route or the other, he discovered a very favorable location for 
trade with the Indians as they descended the river in passing 
from their villages to the mouth of the Sagadahoc, or to the 
pleasant camping grounds on the shores or islands of Casco bay. 
The precise location selected by Purchase for his settlement can 
only be conjectured. Among the Pejepscot papers in the posses- 
sion of the Maine Historical Society are many depositions in 
which there are references to Purchase's residence at Pejepscot ; 
but these depositions were made by persons who reported from 
memory what they had heard in their earlier years from aged resi- 
dents at Pejepscot. Some of these old people testified in these 
depositions that according to common report, as received by them, 
Thomas Purchase lived at the Ten Mile Falls (Lisbon Falls) , and 
some said they had seen a cellar and an old chimney that were 
pointed out to them as the ruins of Purchase's house. Others 
testified they had heard from their parents and other old people 
that Purchase lived at the head of New Meadows river, at a place 
since known as "Stevens' carrying place". Still others main- 
tained that from information they had received, Purchase resided 
at Pejepscot Falls, now Brunswick. It is possible that he changed 
his residence several times and hence these differing statements. 
Indeed such seems to have been the fact. Good authorities, 
however, are of the opinion that Purchase made his earliest resi- 



ADDED SETTLEMENTS. 243 

dence near the Pejepscot Falls. In favor of this view it is said 
that early after coming to Pejepscot— the territory in which he 
made his settlement— Purchase was engaged in the salmon fishery, 
which of course was carried on at the falls, and the inference fairly 
follows that his residence was not far away. The opinion is still 
further strengthened by the fact that the location was carefully 
selected by Purchase. In establishing himself at the falls he 
secured the Indian trade of the Androscoggin in the same way as 
the Pilgrims of Plymouth, in erecting their trading house at 
Cushenoc, now Augusta, secured the Indian trade of the Ken- 
nebec. 

Having made this careful selection of a location for his settle- 
ment, Purchase seems to have allowed some time to pass before 
entering upon negotiations for the purpose of obtaining legal pos- 
session of the territory. The records of the council for New Eng- 
land for June 16, 1632, make mention of a grant by the council to 
George Way and Thomas Purchase of "certain lands in New 
England called the river Bishopscotte [Pejepscot] and all that 
bounds and limits the main land adjoining the river to the extent 
of two miles, from the said river northward four miles, and from 
the house there to the ocean". 1 

There is no evidence that George Way, who lived in Dorchester, 
England, when the patent was issued, settled at any time on the 
territory thus secured. His widow and sons are known to have 
resided at a later period at Hartford, Connecticut. 2 In all proba- 
bility the grant was obtained by George Way at the request of 
Thomas Purchase, and his half interest in it was doubtless secured 
because of his services. The original patent was never in Pur- 
chase's possession, so far as is now known. It is said to have 

1 Sainsbury's Calendar of State Papers, I, 152. Mention of the grant is 
found in Edward Godfrey's "Cattalogue", a list of twenty patents for plan- 
tations in New England, the manuscript of which is preserved in the Public 
Records Office in London. Calendar of State Papers, I, 35. Frequent ref- 
erences to it are also found in the Pejepscot papers, and in conveyances 
recorded at York in the colonial period. 

2 Wheeler, History of Brunswick, etc., 812. 



244 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

been entrusted to Francis Ashley, 1 and no later reference to its 
location has come down to us. Purchase had a copy of the 
patent, but that is said to have been destroyed in the burning of 
the first house he erected. He then built, it is supposed, "a small 
cottage for a present shelter' ' , which at length was replaced by a 

fair stone house", in which Purchase had his home during his 
subsequent residence at Pejepscot. 2 

As has been already suggested, Purchase had excellent oppor- 
tunities for traffic with the Indians. Their furs and peltry were 
exchanged for trinkets of various kinds and such articles and 
implements of English manufacture as were coveted by the natives. 
But Purchase's business relations were increased by his fishing 
interests, which included the taking of salmon and sturgeon, and 
the preparation of the same for exportation to I^ondon. These 
various enterprises required the services of helpers ; and in this 
and other ways Purchase soon gathered around him quite a num- 
ber of settlers, who had landed upon the coast of Maine with other 
emigrants now making their way hither in increasing numbers. 
In a short time, therefore, through his business relations and 
otherwise, Purchase became well known in the province and was 
recognized as one of its prominent men. 3 

July 3, 1637, not long after Cleeve and Tucker received their 
grant of land at Machegonne, Sir Ferdinando Gorges granted to 
Sir Richard Edgecomb, 4 his friend and neighbor at Mount Edge- 

1 Maine Hist. Society's Coll., Series I, 3, 330. 

2 Wheeler, History of Brunswick, etc., 793. 

3 Williamson {History of Maine, I, 690) says Purchase "was one of those 
flexible patriots who could accommodate his politics to the changes of the 
times". Wheeler {History of Brunswick, 796) calls this "rather a harsh 
judgment", and adds that while it is not to be denied that Purchase held 
office "under different and opposing governments", yet it is to be remem- 
bered that this is true of Robert Jordan, Henry Josselyn and Edward Rish- 
worth, against whom no such reflection is brought. 

4 Sir Richard Edgecomb, like Gorges, was one of the charter members of 
the council for New England. Mount Edgecomb, overlooking the entrance 
to the harbor of Plymouth, England, is the most attractive place in the 
neighborhood of Plymouth to-day. 



ADDED SETTLEMENTS. 245 

comb, Plymouth, eight thousand acres of land lying between the 
river Sagadahoc and Casco bay. Sullivan 1 makes mention of the 
grant, but it is not included in the Farnham Papers, no copy 
probably having been found. That such a grant was made, how- 
ever, cannot now be doubted. Sir Richard Edgecomb died March 
28, 1638, and so was unable to carry out any plans he may have 
formed with reference to this grant. But in 1718, John Edge- 
comb, 2 who is described by Sullivan as living in the District of 
Maine, and "one of the family of Mount Edgecomb in Great 
Britain' ' , entered in the book of claims in the Province of Massa- 
chusetts Bay a claim for the grant in behalf of the heirs of Sir 
Richard Edgecomb. The matter received no further attention 
until 1756, when Eord Edgecomb, of Mount Edgecomb, author- 
ized Sir William Pepperrell to take charge of the matter for him. 
On account of Sir William's death, which occurred not long 
after, little if anything was done by him ; but in 1768, Eord Edge- 
comb secured the services of Nathaniel Sparhawk, Pepperrell' s 

1 History of the District of Maine, 125. 

2 Baxter (Trelawny Papers, 328) calls John Edgecomb "the supposed 
grandson of Nicholas Edgecomb", who was in Trelawny 's employ at Rich- 
mond's island. Concerning the relation of John Edgecomb and other heirs 
of Nicholas Edgecomb to the Edgecombs of Mount Edgecomb, Sullivan 
makes the statement that "it is said that they were a branch of Sir Richard's 
family" (126). On the next page, however, he adds, "The Edgcombs who 
have been mentioned were no doubt of the younger branches of Sir Richard's 
family, and were sent over to possess the territory, which was then in the 
possession of Dr. Smith and others, under a grant from the council of 
Plymouth" (127). Mr. Baxter, while doubtful of the success of the effort 
to connect Nicholas Edgecomb with the Edgecombs of Mount Edgecomb, 
says, "though he had not the rank he was a man for a' that". Nicholas 
Edgcomb married Wilmot Randall, who was in the service of Mrs. Winter 
at Richmond's island. In an account rendered by John Winter to Robert Tre- 
lawny, in 1641, occurs the entry, "Received from Nicholas Edgecomb for 
yielding up of the maid Wilmot's time, which he married before her time 
was out, 5^"". After his marriage Nicholas Edgecomb leased a farm of Cap- 
tain Bonython at Blue Point. In 1660, he removed with his wife and six 
children to Saco. The posterity of the Edgecombs "is there now", wrote 
Sullivan, when he published his History of the District of Maine. See Mr. 
Baxter's note on Nicholas Edgecomb, Trelawny Papers, 327, 328. 



246 thp beginnings op colonial maine. 

son-in-law, who, in reviving the claim of the Bdgecomb heirs, was 
directed to claim eight thousand acres of land on the Kennebec 
river. The original grant seems to have been in Sparhawk's 
hands. An additional description of the grant in the book of 
claims was more specific than that in the original grant, as the 
eight thousand acres were there recorded as "near the lake of 
New Somerset, fifteen miles from Casco bay" ; but L,ord Bdge- 
comb 's counsel "endeavored to fix it on a grant fifteen miles from 
the sea on the west side of the river Kennebec, and adjoining to 
Merrymeeting bay, calling that the lake of New Somerset". 1 As 
this claim conflicted with that of other claimants to land on the 
Kennebec, litigation followed in which L,ord Bdgecomb lost his 
case. 

The Indian trade of the Plymouth colonists on the Kennebec 
had been so profitable that at the close of 1633, Bradford recorded 
with gratitude the fact that the sale of beaver sent to Bngland by 
the Pilgrims during the year — "thirty -three hundred and sixty- 
six pounds weight and much of it coat beaver, which yielded 
twenty shillings per pound, and some of it above" — had enabled 
them to pay all their debts in Bngland, and so to relieve them- 
selves of a burden that had long weighed heavily upon them. 

But early in the next year, in returning to his record of affairs 
connected with the Pilgrim trading house on the Kennebec, Brad- 
ford mentioned 2 "one of the saddest things" that had befallen the 
Pilgrims since the commencement of their enterprise on that river. 
One John Hocking, who lived at Piscataqua, agent for Lords Say 
and Brooke and other Bnglishmen interested in the settlement 

1 Sullivan, History of the District of Maine, Yl£>. In a note (127) Sullivan 
adds : "There is no doubt but that Gorges and Bdgecomb intended the 
lands contained in the grant to be on the west side of Saco river, which was 
then called Sagadahock". The Sagadahoc was the eastern boundary of the 
Province of Maine, or New Somersetshire, and so well known to Gorges, 
that to think of him as confounding two such important rivers within the 
limits of his territory as the Sagadahoc and the Saco is impossible. 

2 Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, Mass. Hist. Soc, Ed. 1912, 
II, 174-189. 



ADDED SETTLEMENTS. 247 

there, made his way to the Kennebec, purposing to proceed in his 
vessel up the river beyond the Pilgrims' house at Cushenoc, and so 
to secure trade with the Indians that otherwise would fall into the 
hands of the Plymouth men. John Howland, who was in com- 
mand of the trading house, protested against this effort on the 
part of Hocking, insisting that it was an infringement of rights 
secured to the Pilgrims by their patent from the council for New 
England. The appeal was to that clause in the grant which 
authorized Bradford and his associates "to take, apprehend, seize 
and make prize of all such persons, their ships and goods, as shall 
attempt to inhabit or trade with the savage people of that country 
within the several precincts and limits of his and their several 
plantations". 1 But Hocking refused to heed the protest made by 
Howland. As Bradford records his language, he said he "would 
go up and trade there in despite of them", and he would stay 
there "as long as he pleased". In the effort to make good his 
words, Hocking sailed past the Pilgrim post and anchored. 
Howland then again went to Hocking, and having called his 
attention to this violation of the Pilgrim rights as received in their 
patent, he urged him to take his vessel down the river ; but Hock- 
ing still refused. Howland "could get nothing of him but ill 
words". Accordingly he proceeded to action. Instructing his 
men not to fire their guns upon any provocation, he sent two of 
them to cut the cable of Hocking's vessel. This they succeeded 
in doing, and as the vessel started down the river, Hocking 
seized a musket and killed one of the Plymouth men, Moses Tal- 
bot. His companion, in the canoe, who loved him well Brad- 
ford says, could not restrain himself; and levelling his musket at 
Hocking he shot him in retaliation. The vessel continued on its 
course down the river, and Hocking's men, on their return to the 
Piscataqua, carried the tidings of the affair thither. 

The report in due time reached L,ords Say and Brooke in Eng- 
land. In it the fact was withheld that Hocking had killed one of 
the Plymouth men ; and the same version of the affair, either 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 115. 



248 THE) BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE). 

from the Piscataqua or from England, was carried to the colonists 
of Massachusetts bay. When, not long after, the Plymouth col- 
onists sent their vessel to Boston, the authorities there arrested 
John Alden, who, though not a participant in the affair, was at 
the Kennebec trading house when Hocking was killed. The 
Pilgrims regarded Alden 's arrest as an unfriendly proceeding on 
the part of the Massachusetts officials, and sent Captain Miles 
Standish to Boston with letters from Bradford and others to secure 
Alden' s release. This was effected, but at the same time Captain 
Standish was put under bonds to appear at the next court, June 
3, 1634, with a certified copy of the patent, showing the rights of 
the Plymouth colonists on the Kennebec. At this meeting of the 
court, the Massachusetts bay authorities made it evident that they 
did not wish to give offence to their Plymouth neighbors, while 
equally they made it evident that they desired to disavow How- 
land's action, "which", asWinthrop recorded, "was feared would 
give occasion to the king to send a general governor over". 1 In 
a private letter, Governor Dudley counselled patience on the part 
of the Plymouth authorities. After awhile Mr. Winthrop sug- 
gested a conference in which the Plymouth colonists, the colonists 
at the Piscataqua, and those of Massachusetts bay should be 
requested ' 'to consult and determine in this matter, so as the par- 
ties meeting might have full power to order and bind, etc., and 
that nothing should be done to the infringing or prejudice of the 
liberties of any place". 2 Such a conference was held in Boston, 
but only the Plymouth and Massachusetts bay colonists were rep- 
resented. The matter, however, was fully discussed with the result 
that while "they all wished these things had never been, yet they 
could not but lay the blame and guilt on Hocking's own head". 
At the same time "grave and godly exhortations" were made to 
the Plymouth men, which they "embraced with love and thank- 
fulness, promising to endeavor to follow the same"; 3 and with 

1 Winthrop, Journal, I, 124. 

2 Bradford, Mass. Hist. Soc, Ed. 1912, II, 187. 

3 lb. II, 188. 



ADDED SETTLEMENTS. 249 

this, further agitation of the matter ceased. Mr. Winslow was 
sent to England not long after in order to see that no harm should 
come to the colony in consequence of the affair ; but he found 
that agitation had ceased there also. 

Of settlers on the lower Kennebec at this time there is little 
information ; but Sullivan is doubtless quite right in saying that 
from the year 1626 to the year 1660, there were inhabitants, 
traders and settlers on the river. * But the number was not large. 
As late as 1670, according to Sullivan, 2 there were only twenty 
families on the west side and thirty on the east side. Few favor- 
able locations were reached in the lower parts of the river, and on 
other accounts settlers were not generally inclined to make their 
homes far away from the seacoast. 

The broad opening of the Sheepscot, however, proved more 
inviting to settlers than the comparatively narrow entrance to the 
Kennebec ; and as the arrivals on the coast increased in number 
in the third decade of the century, those seeking an attractive 
location for settlement could not fail to make their way up the 
Sheepscot into Wiscasset bay and farther on to what has come to 
be known as the Sheepscot Farms. Here was the site of a pros- 
perous community in that early period of our colonial history. 
Strangely, however, no record has preserved to us even the names 
of those who first made their homes on these fertile lands. The 
only record that reminds us of their dwelling here is found in the 
remains of a large number of well-defined cellars, still plainly 
visible to those who seek for them. Two fortifications, also, 
known as Fort Anne and Garrison Hill — the former believed to be 
the fort of the first occupancy of the Farms, the latter with stock- 
ade lines of great extent — provided for the protection of the set- 
tlers ; and though time has obliterated timberwork, and in a 
measure earthworks, yet enough is left to mark the places to 

1 History of the District of Maine, 170. 

2 The statement is based on a report of the English settlements on the 
coast east of Kennebec, along the seacoast to Matinicus, "some 70 and some 
40 years ago", made by Captain Sylvanus Davis in 1701. Sullivan, 170, 391. 



250 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

which the settlers could repair in time of need for common 
defence. 1 

Proceeding now still farther eastward we have equal difficulty 
in attempting to ascertain the number of settlers along the coast, 
and in the country back from the coast. The report made by 
Captain Sylvanus Davis in 1701, and on which Sullivan relied in 
his estimate of the population, includes the settlements on the 
eastern side of the Kennebec and eastward as far as the St. 
George's river ; but from it no information is received that enables 
us to ascertain the number of settlers found in these places in 
1630, and the number found in 1660. The report, therefore, is 
not a satisfactory one, as there is no means of obtaining from it 
the number of settlers east of the Kennebec on either of these 
dates. The whole number of families recorded for this large ter- 
ritory is one hundred and fifty-five. Reckoning each family as 
having five members, we obtain a population of seven hundred 
and seventy-five. The estimate is probably somewhat large, but 
it cannot be far out of the way. 2 

Very little, however, is learned from such figures. How came 
these settlers hither, and in what way did they spend their 
changed lives after they had reached their new surroundings ? 

Happily, with reference to their ocean experiences, the daily 
record of one voyager to the American coast in that early period 
has come down to us in the diary of Rev. Richard Mather, 8 who, 

1 For an exceedingly interesting account of the approaches to the Sheep- 
scot Farms, and a description of the cellar remains still discoverable there, 
see a paper entitled "The Sheepscot Farms", read March 14, 1878, before 
the Maine Historical Society, by Alexander Johnston, and printed in the 
Society's Collections, Series I, 9, 129-155. 

2 For the report made by Captain Sylvanus Davis see Sullivan, History oj 
the District of Maine, 390, 391. 

3 Richard Mather was born in 1596 in the south of Winwick, County of 
Lancaster, England. While at Brasenose College, Oxford, he received from 
the people in Toxteth, whose children had been taught by him, an invitation 
to come and teach them "in the things of God". Having been ordained and 
having spent fifteen years in the ministry, complaints were made against him 
for nonconformity. He was suspended from his office, but soon after was 



ADDED SETTLEMENTS. 251 

in 1635, with his family, sailed for Boston from Bristol, England, 
on the James, a vessel of 220 tons. On the day of their embarka- 
tion, May 23, two "searchers" came on board the ship and 
' 'viewed a list of all our names, ministered the oath of allegiance 
to all of full age, viewed our certificates from the ministers in the 
parishes from which we came, approved well thereof, and gave us 
tickets, that is licenses under their hands and seals, to pass the 
seas, and cleared the ship, and so departed." 1 Here, too, we 
have the glimpse of the effect of a recent proclamation of the 
king, commanding all seaport officers to forbid "the embarkation 
of passengers for New England without a license from the com- 
missioners of plantations, and a certificate of having taken the 
oaths of supremacy and allegiances, also a certificate from the 
parish minister. ' ' 

Several days were now passed in waiting for a favorable wind. 
At anchor near the James was another vessel, the Angel Gabriel 
of 240 tons, "a strong ship, and well-furnished with fourteen or 
sixteen pieces of ordnance", bound for Pemaquid. One day, 
during this delay, Mr. Mather, with the captain of the James and 
a few other passengers, went on board of the Angel Gabriel. In 
his account of this visit, Mr. Mather wrote : "Soon after we were 
come aboard there, there came three or four more boats with more 
passengers, and one wherein came Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who 
came to see the ship and the people. When he was come he 
inquired whether there were any people there that went to Massa- 
chusetts bay, whereupon Mr. Maud and Barnabas Fower were 
sent for to come before him ; who being come he asked Mr. Maud 

restored. Being silenced a second time, he decided to remove to New Eng- 
land. After his arrival at Boston, his services were desired at Plymouth, 
Dorchester and Roxbury. In 1636, he was settled over the newly organized 
church in Dorchester. As the minister of this church he spent the remainder 
of his long and useful life, dying April 22, 1669, in the seventy-third year 
of his age. He was the father of Increase Mather, president of Harvard 
College, and father of the no less celebrated Cotton Mather. 

1 Journal of Richard Mather, Dorchester Genealogical and Historical Soci- 
ety, 1850, 6. 



252 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

of his country, occupation or calling of life, &c, and professed 
his goodwill to the people there in the bay, and promised that if 
he ever came there, he would be a true friend unto them." 1 Only 
a few days before this visit the council for New England had sur- 
rendered its charter to the king ; and, in connection with the sur- 
render, Gorges was expecting an appointment as governor of New 
England. Hence the significance of Gorges' promise, as recorded 
by Mather, Sir Ferdinando evidently intending that those who 
were on the ship and purposed to make their way to the Bay col- 
ony should repeat his promise on their arrival. 

Mather and his companions spent five Sundays on the James 
before the vessel, and also the Angel Gabriel, put to sea. More- 
ever, the passage was long and wearisome, but in it there was 
much of interest. For a part of the way the two vessels were in 
company, and one day in mid-ocean, the sea permitting, the 
Angel Gabriel sent a boat to the James "to see how we did"; and 
when the boat returned, Mather accompanied the captain of the 
James to the Angel Gabriel, returning after "loving and courteous 
entertainment' ' . 

At length the wearisome voyage was over. Saturday morn- 
ing, August 8, after the seamen had taken "abundance of macker- 
ell", all had "a clear and comfortable sight of America". The 
land was "an island called Menhiggin", and Mather adds the 
noteworthy statement that Monhegan at that time was "without 
inhabitants", the Aid worth and Elbridge interests having been 
transferred, probably several years before, to the mainland at Pem- 
aquid. The coast line was now in view. "A little from the 
islands we saw more northward divers other islands and the main 
land of New England, all along northward and eastward as we 
sailed." On the high deck of the vessel the passengers gathered ; 
and in the bright sunlight of that fair August day, they had 
before them, as they looked landward, the same delightful scenes 
that possess such fascinating interest at present to many a sum- 
mer visitor, sailing up or down the coast of Maine. 

1 Journal of Richard Mather, 7, 8. 



ADDED SETTLEMENTS. 253 

A westerly wind detaining them, so that they "were forced to 
tack too and again southward and northward, gaining little", the 
James came to anchor Monday morning, August 10, at Rich- 
mond's island. "When we came within sight of the island", 
wrote Mather, "the planters there, being but two families and 
about forty persons, were sore afraid of us, doubting least we had 
been French come to pillage the island, as Penobscot * had been 
served by them about ten days before. When we were come to 
anchor, and their fear was past, they came some of them aboard 
to us in their shallops, and we went some of us ashore into the 
island, to look for fresh water and grass for our cattle ; and the 
planters bade us welcome, and gave some of us courteous enter- 
tainment in their houses." 

The James remained at anchor at Richmond's island August 
10-12. At this time, as already stated, John Winter was on his 
way to England, and therefore could not have been one of those 
who gave generous welcome to the weary voyagers, as Mather 
records. However, he had left Trelawny's affairs in the hands of 
Narias Hawkins, a near neighbor, who seems to have had fishing 
interests of his own, and who with Winter's wife and daughter 
well represented Trelawny's absent agent. It is possible, also, 
that Edward Trelawny, a brother of Robert Trelawny, Winter's 
employer, was at Richmond's island at this time; and as his reli- 
gious sympathies were with the Puritans, 2 he would, if present, 

1 The reference is to Aulney's seizure of the Pilgrims' trading house at 
Penobscot (Castine) in 1635. Mather's Journal, 26, 27. 

2 Edward Trelawny, in a letter from Boston to Robert Trelawny about this 
time, wrote : "Let all idle reports, touching the conversation of God's people 
here, be utterly abolished and find no credence with any who wish well 
unto Zion ; for I assure you, they deserve it not ; if I may speak my conscience 
that tells me they are a people truly fearing God, and follow the paths that 
lead to Jerusalem, for they manifest the same apparently in the whole course 
of their conversation. For my part I have just cause ever to bless the Lord 
for so high a favor in bringing me hither, and shall account it the greatest 
happiness that ever befell me ; and though I must confess, at your first 
motioning of it, it was somewhat averse and distasteful to my untamed and 
unbridled nature, yet since the heavenly conversations and sweet life of the 



254 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

have taken pleasure doubtless in extending a hearty welcome to 
one so well and so favorably known as Richard Mather. 

The James, having August 12 continued her voyage to Massa- 
chusetts bay, encountered heavy winds August 13 and 14, and 
then anchored at the Isles of Shoals. There the great storm that 
desolated the New England coast on the following day broke upon 
the vessel at its island anchorage. Seamen and passengers alike 
trembled at the violence of winds and waves. The ship, in immi- 
nent peril from the first, lost her anchors at length, but miracu- 
lously, as all thought, escaped the rocks that showed themselves 
here and there above the breaking billows, and reached open sea ; 
whence, after the storm ceased, the James made her way in safety 
into Massachusetts bay and finally into Boston harbor. "The 
Iyord granted us as wonderful a deliverance as ever people had", 
wrote Mather in his journal. 

The Angel Gabriel seems to have reached Pemaquid about the 
time this destructive storm descended upon the New England 
coast, and was at anchor in the harbor. Abraham Shurt and 
many others were there to extend to the new colonists a good 
English welcome. But though the vessel was securely anchored 
in her desired haven, the fury of the storm wrought her total 
destruction. When Richard Mather received the tidings of the 
loss of the Angel Gabriel, which included one seaman and three 
or four passengers as well as a valuable cargo, he entered the 
record in his journal with a chastened heart and hand. Indeed 
the sudden, unexpected destruction of the strong ship made a 
deep, abiding impression not only upon those who witnessed the 
scene, but upon the dwellers in every hamlet whither the story of 
the loss of the Angel Gabriel was carried. More than a century 
afterward the Pemaquid proprietors placed upon their seal the 

people here hath so far wrought upon and vindicated my conscience, that I 
would not (I profess seriously from my very soul) be in my former base, abom- 
inable, odious condition, no, not for the whole riches of the world." Tre- 
lawny Papers, 72, 73. 



ADDED SETTLEMENTS. 



255 



device of a ship, and surrounded it with the legend, "The Angel 
•Gabriel. A. K. Pemaquid, 1631". 1 

There are few sources of information concerning the lives of the 
early settlers. So far as is known, no one among them kept a 
journal in which were recorded the common experiences of daily 
life on the Maine coast at that time. Certainly no such journal 
has come down to us. In fact the Trelawny Papers, in which is 
preserved the correspondence of John Winter and others asso- 
ciated with him at Richmond's island in the interests of Robert 
Trelawny, are almost our only source of information along this 
line of inquiry. These, it is true, give us glimpses of every day 
matters at a single locality for the most part; but even such 
.glimpses may be fairly regarded as representing life at other 
points from Agamenticus to Pemaquid. 

The choice of a settlement was not an unimportant matter. 
Previous to 1630, the country for the most part was open, and the 
settler who ventured to locate on the mainland made his habita- 
tion without much inquiry as to land titles. After that time, 
arrangements were made with the various patentees who received 
grants from the council for New England, or from Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges. 

Having selected a location, the settler cleared a plot of ground 
and erected his dwelling, a rude, log structure in the early period. 
At Richmond's island suitable buildings were provided for living 
and trading purposes. Winter's house was forty feet in length, 
eighteen feet in breadth, and had a fireplace so large that brew- 
ing, baking and boiling operations were carried on at the same 
time. In an adjoining house was the kitchen ; and here, also, 
were ' 'sieves and mill and mortar' ' . Corn was first broken in the 
mortar, then ground in a hand-mill and afterward sifted. Over 
the kitchen were two chambers. All of the men in Winter's 
employ — there were forty-seven in 1637— slept in one of these 
chambers, and each man had his close-boarded cabin or bunk. 

1 A stands for Aldworth, K for Klbridge, the two Pemaquid patentees ; 
1631 is the date of the patent. Me. Hist. Society's Coll., Series I, 5, 218. 



256 THE BEGINNINGS OF COI,ONIAE MAINE. 

"I have room enough", adds Winter in a letter to Trelawny, "to 
make a dozen close-boarded cabins more, if I have need of them, 
and in the other chamber I have room enough to put the ship's 
sails into and all our dry goods". * 

In the open space on the mainland, near the house built by 
Cleeve and Tucker, and which they cleared for their own uses, 
Winter had a cornfield, containing four or five acres and fenced 
with poles six feet high, driven into the ground and pointed. 
Writing to Trelawny in the early part of October, 1634, Winter 
could say: "Our harvest of Indian corn is not all in yet, but if 
fair weather [continues], it will be in about five or six days hence. 
I think we shall have about twenty hogsheads of corn good and 
bad ; the frost has taken some of our corn that was not fully ripe, 
but [it is] not much the worse for it' ' . 2 Winter also had swine 
on the mainland, "about seventy pigs, young and old", he writes ; 

and I hope we shall have more very shortly they 

feed themselves when the acorns do fall". 3 

The fertility of the soil is often mentioned by the early New 
England writers. Winter makes reference to it. "There is 
nothing that we set or sow but doth prove very well. We have 
proved divers sorts as barley, peas, pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, 
onions, garlic, radishes, turnips, cabbage, lettuce, parsley, melons, 
and I think so will other sorts of herbs if they be set or sown." 4 
This record occurs in a letter written in the autumn of 1634. 
Winter's diligence in establishing so soon a well-cultivated gar- 
den was doubtless manifested by other early settlers. 

From the sea, however, the colonists derived largely their means 
of subsistence. Cod, haddock, halibut, bass, abounded and mack- 
erel at certain seasons of the year. The dwellers on the shores of 
the upper waters of the Sheepscot were especially favored in their 
food supplies. "They wanted nothing they did not have." 

1 Trelawny Papers, 31, 32. 

2 lb., 53. 

3 lb., 31. 
Mb., 50. 



ADDED SETTLEMENTS. 257 

Plenty surrounded them. All kinds of fish still known in our 
rivers and streams, such as salmon, trout, bass, shad, herring, 
alewives, smelts, etc., were to be had in their season; also clams 
and oysters. The marshes, at certain times in the year, furnished 
a rendezvous for wild geese, ducks, teals and other birds. The 
nearby forests, also, abounded in game, furnishing extensive hunt- 
ing grounds for those who ventured to make their way into such 
primeval seclusions; 1 some of them "gentle sportsmen" like 
Cammock, the Josselyn brothers and Michael Mitton, who mar- 
ried Cleeve's daughter Elizabeth. 

Household articles were doubtless few and of a primitive kind. 
When Cammock set up housekeeping he gave Trelawny a some- 
what extended order, thus : "two good kettles of copper, one big- 
ger than another, one iron pot, one iron possnett [a small pot], 
one frying pan of a good size, one gridiron, a fire pan and tongs, 
pot-hooks and pot-hangers ; one dozen of howes [hoes] , six iron 
wedges, one hand saw, three sieves for corn, one finer than the 
other ; and one dozen of wooden platters and one good dripping 
pan and a pair of bellows." 2 With such an outfit Cammock cer- 
tainly had no difficulty in providing generous entertainment for 
the good livers whom he made his guests. 

The chief industry among the early settlers was fishing. In 
fact, it was the great value of the fisheries that attracted many of 
these settlers to the coast of Maine. Winter's reports to Trelawny 
were not as favorable as those that first awakened attention in 
England. The best fishing, he said, was in January and Febru- 
ary, while the reports of explorers and voyagers had reference for 
the most part to the abundance of fish off the coast of Maine in 
summer time. Writing June 18, 1634, to Trelawny, Winter said : 
"if you purpose to follow your fishing here, you must expect to 
have your ship here by Christmas. Since March we have had bad 
fishing this year." June 11, 1635, Winter writes, "the later 

1 The Sheepscot Farms, by Alexander Johnston. Me. Hist. Society'' s Coll. , 
Series I, 9, 138. 

2 Trelawny Papers, 21 . 

17 



258 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

fishing hath proved but ill with us". A like report followed in 
June, 1636: "The fishing this year hath proved very ill". So, 
too, July 8, 1637, he wrote, "The fishing since the middle of Feb- 
ruary hath proved very ill." But as Winter, in this last letter, 
adds, "there is but little hope of doing good here upon fishing 
except we have good pliable men, and such I lack", he discloses, 
in part at least, the reasons for the want of success which he so 
frequently deplores. 1 

Probably most of the settlers traded more or less with the 
Indians, who soon found that furs could easily be exchanged for 
hatchets, trinkets and especially the "strong waters", of which 
there seems to have been no lack at any part of the coast. The 
best places for such traffic were on the large rivers, those natural 
highways by which the Indians easily descended from their vil- 
lages back in the country to the trading posts established on the 
river banks, or at some convenient location not far away. Win- 
ter, at Richmond's island, was at a disadvantage in seeking to 
secure trade with the Indians. In one of his first letters to Tre- 
lawny, who evidently had suggested efforts in this direction, Win- 
ter wrote : "I have not received from them [the Indians] since I 
came to this land but three skins, and that was two months after 
I came hither, and was for strong waters. There hath not been 
to this island one Indian all this year, nor to the main to our 
house, that brought any skins to trade. ' ' Having discovered that 
at Richmond's island he was remote from the lines of traffic, Win- 
ter attempted to reach the Indians in their villages forty or fifty 
miles in the country ; but waistcoats, shirts and stockings attracted 
no trade. When, however, he bought a few beads and sought 
trade by them, beaver was produced and trade effected. 2 

Winter's reference to an Indian trade in which "strong waters" 
entered into the account recalls the fact that the importation of 
intoxicating liquors was a matter of not unfrequent occurrence at 
Richmond's island. "Great store of sack and strong waters 

1 Trelawny Papers, 26, 55, 83, 107, 108. 

2 lb., 27, 28. 



ADDED SETTLEMENTS. 259 

comes in all the ships that come hither", Winter wrote to Tre- 
lawny in one of his letters ; and in the same connection he men- 
tions the arrival of a vessel from the Canaries ' 'laden with wine, 
strong waters, sugar and some pitch". "Aquavite" had a prom- 
inent place in his invoices and accounts, and mention is also made 
of "butts of sack", "pipes of Portugal wine", etc. "if you can 
send some good sack you may; that will sell", wrote Winter to 
Trelawny, July 8, 1637. Doubtless a part of the supply was for 
use in trafficking with the Indians, but the accounts show that 
both fishermen and settlers brought with them to the new world 
the drinking customs of the old. 1 

The absence of women among the early settlers is a noteworthy 
fact in this connection. No women came with the Popham colo- 
nists. Furthermore, no mention is made of women in connection 
with the efforts put forth by Captain John Smith and others to 
bring settlers to the Maine coast in 1615 and later. John Brown 
of New Harbor probably brought his family with him ; and this 
may be true of William Cox and others in the same vicinity. 
John Winter left his wife in England when he came to Richmond's 
island as Trelawny's agent. The first mention of his wife, as 
present with him in his island home, occurs in a letter written 
July 10, 1637, 2 and it is supposed that Mrs. Winter and the 
daughter Sarah accompanied Winter on his return from England 
in 1636. Cleeve's wife, and daughter Elizabeth, were with him 
when he is first mentioned as a dweller at Spurwink, and evi- 
dently the two came hither with him. But the Trelawny papers 
give us few glimpses of women in that early period. Winter, 
writing to Trelawny July 11, 1633, says: "if any of our com- 
pany's wives ask for their husbands, tell them that they are all in 
good health." 8 Some of these husbands, it may be, were here 
only temporarily, and intended to return to England sooner or 
later. It is probable, however, that others intended to remain 

1 Trelawny Papers, Yl\, 183-198. 

2 lb., 115. 

3 lb., 24. 



260 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

and send for their wives as soon as they found conditions favor- 
able. When such conditions were discoverable as the settlers 
became more numerous and secured for themselves comfortable 
homes on cleared land, families that had been separated were 
reunited and family life was re-established. But unfavorable con- 
ditions were found at Jamestown, Va., in 1607, and at Plymouth, 
Mass., in 1620; so also in the beginnings of the later Puritan 
movement to Massachusetts bay, though doubtless in a less degree 
than among the earlier colonists. One can hardly escape the con- 
clusion, therefore, that colonization upon the Maine coast would 
have been followed by better and more enduring results, if from 
the beginning the scattered settlements in a larger degree had 
enjoyed the helpful, encouraging, restraining influences of women. 

The great patent issued by James I, November 3, 1620, placing 
the northern or Plymouth Company on an equal footing with the 
southern or Jamestown Company, authorized the council for New 
England "to make, ordain and establish all manner of orders, 
laws, directions, instructions, forms and ceremonies of govern- 
ment and magistracy fit and necessary for and concerning the 
government of the said colony and plantation so always as the 
same be not contrary to the laws and statutes of this our realm of 
England". 1 The council, however, made no efforts to exercise 
this authority. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, as had been stated, made 
some attempts in this direction within his own territorial limits, 
but they were ineffectual. 

The grant of Pemaquid to Robert Aldworth and Giles Elbridge, 
in 1631, gave them liberty "to make orders, laws, ordinances and 
constitutions for the rule, government, ordering and directing of 
all persons to be transported and settled upon lands hereby 
granted". 2 There is no evidence, however, that Aldworth and 
Elbridge, or either of them — Aldworth died in 1634 — attempted 
to establish civil government within their territorial limits. 
Abraham Shurt, their agent at Pemaquid, seems for awhile to 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 31. 

2 lb., 170. 



ADDED SETTLEMENTS. 261 

have represented his patrons' interests on this side of the Atlantic ; 
but there is nothing to indicate that he was in any way empow- 
ered by them to assume any governmental proceedings. Later, 
Thomas Elbridge (a son of Giles Blbridge, who died in 1644) 
came over to Pemaquid to look after his father's interests ; and is 
said by Shurt to have "called a court", 1 but it was rather for the 
purpose of collecting payment for certain fishing interests than for 
the trial of civil causes generally. 

It was natural, therefore, as the number of settlements increased 
on the coast of Maine, that the lack of good government should 
be noticed and made a matter of comment and complaint on the 
part of those who desired better conditions. "Here lacks good 
government in the land", wrote Winter to Robert Trelawny, June 
26, 1635, and he added, "for a great many deal very ill here for 
want of government' ' . A part of his trouble was with the men 
in his employ, as Trelawny's agent. "They think to do what 
they list", he wrote, "for here is neither law nor government 
with us about these parts to right such wrongs, and I am but one 
man". Later, urging Trelawny to send over "honester men", 
Winter added, "for I have a bad company to deal withal, being 
here in a lawless country". He had in mind not only fishermen, 
however. "Our husbandmen", he added, "prove also bad". 2 
Such complaints are frequent in Winter's letters. Moreover, 
Winter had his trials in wider circles, complaining loudly of 
Cleeve, and living at times in strained relations with Cammock 
and Mackworth. This state of things at Richmond's island and 
vicinity existed at other places on the Maine coast. A sore lack 
of organized government was everywhere felt and acknowledged. 
Manifestly Gorges and the other members of the council for New 
England had not sufficiently considered their responsibility in 
making suitable provision for the establishment of some kind of 
civil government over that part of New England which they had 

1 Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 58. 

2 Trelawny Papers, 61, 109, 136. 



262 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE- 

opened to settlement, and into which they had encouraged men to 
enter. 

Here on the Maine coast, there was lack also of the restraining 
influences of religion. It is true that Gorges, and those interested 
with him in the Popham colony, sent hither with the colony Rev. 
Robert Seymour ; but when the colonists returned to Kngland in 
the following year, he returned with them. So, also, when Rob- 
ert Gorges was sent over in 1623 as governor of New Kngland, 
Rev. William Morrell, who had received an appointment as super- 
intendent of the churches of New Kngland, came with him ; but 
both returned in the following year without having assumed offi- 
cial functions. A third Kpiscopal clergyman, Rev. Richard Gib- 
son, accompanied Winter, it is thought, when he returned to 
Richmond's island in 1636. He soon had trouble with Winter, 
which is not surprising; and there were other "troublous spirits" 
in the neighborhood, so that after about three years, having mar- 
ried the daughter of Thomas L,ewis of Saco, he removed from the 
province, and not long afterward he also returned to Kngland. 1 
Until after 1640, these were the only ordained Protestant clergy- 
men connected with the Gorges interests. 

Kdward Trelawny, a brother of Robert Trelawny, was at Rich- 
mond's island in 1635. A letter written by him to his brother 
not long after his arrival mentions an earlier request "for a reli- 
gious, able minister". It is "most pitiful to behold what a most 
heathen life we live"; and he contrasts conditions at Richmond's 
island with those he was made familiar with during a visit to Bos- 
ton, making mention of "those sweet means which draws a bless- 
ing on all things, even those holy ordinances and heavenly manna 
of our souls, which in other parts of this land flows abundantly 
even to the great rejoicing and comforting of the people of God". 2 
It may have been this appeal that led to the appearance of Rev. 
Richard Gibson at Richmond's island in the following year. 

In the absence, therefore, of regular, continuous governmental 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 81, 82. 

2 Trelawny Papers, 72, 79. 



rmTTru,yraM$Tr,t&™A- tf no xro/^r-vi^- J^-^,/^^h6 /&» tv*j£ 
Jfa- #WC- cf^afto fl/t-jZ* /%>&}$> (rf"-^ ***** 

J-hcii^ yicn*- <t«^- (W» $& (jroJ-fK run**- <rf On s — 

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Sir Ferdinando Gorges to Governor Wieeiam Gorges. 



ADDED SETTLEMENTS. 263 

restraints of any kind, and also of the helpful influence of reli- 
gious institutions, except as mentioned above, conditions in the 
Maine settlements were such that the colonists found themselves 
in circumstances which must have been, at least to many, distress- 
ing in a very large degree. Nor was this all. These conditions 
influenced many who came hither intending to make homes for 
themselves between the Penobscot and the Piscataqua ; but who 
on their arrival met with disappointment at what they saw and 
heard, and continuing their journey established themselves in the 
more orderly settlements of Massachusetts bay. 



CHAPTER XV. 
The French at Casting. 

THE charter of Nova Scotia, granted by James I, September 
10, 1621, to Sir William Alexander, 1 secretary of state to 
the king, included the territory on the Atlantic coast from 
Cape Sable to the mouth of the St. Croix river, and northward 
to its "remotest source" ; thence northward to the nearest river 
"discharging itself into the great river of Canada and proceeding 
from it by the sea shores of the same river of Canada eastward to 

the river commonly known and called by the name of 

Gathepe or Gaspie, and thence southeastward to the islands called 

Baccaloes thence to the cape or promontory of Cape 

Britton lying near the latitude of forty-five degrees or 

thereabout ; and from the said promontory of Cape Britton toward 
the south and west to the aforesaid Cape Sable, where the circuit 
began"; also "all seas and islands toward the south within forty 

leagues including the great island, commonly called 

Isle de Sable or Sablon". 2 By a subsequent charter, Charles I, 

1 It is conjectured that Sir William Alexander's attention was first directed 
to Nova Scotia by Claude de la Tour, a French Protestant who had been in 
that country with Pourtrincourt. It is known that in 1621 he was in Scot- 
land, where Sir William was secretary of state to King James. When Cap- 
tain John Mason returned from Newfoundland, Sir William sought an inter- 
view with him by inviting him to his house. Mason advised him to avail 
himself of the opportunity opening on this side of the Atlantic for securing 
large land possessions, suggesting that he confer with Gorges and seek his 
assistance in securing from the king a grant of territory northeast of the 
grant to the council for New England. But Sir William went directly to the 
king, who conveyed to him the territory of Nova Scotia. For an extended 
account of Sir William's connection with American affairs, see Sir William 
Alexander and American Colonization, by Rev. Edmund F. Slafter, A. M., 
Prince Society, Boston, 1873. 

2 Farnham Papers, I, 59, 60. 



TH£ FRENCH AT CASTING. 265 

July 12, 1625, confirmed the grant of James I, and a clause was 
added which incorporated Nova Scotia with Scotland. 1 

Two years later, with the aid of Sir David Kirk, who was a 
French Protestant, Sir William Alexander instituted measures for 
the expulsion of French settlers within the limits of his grant, 
and to a considerable degree these measures were successful. 
Opposition, however, was awakened on the part of France, the 
French king insisting that the territory invaded was within the 
limits of New France ; and, in order to advance the interests of 
the monarchy within the disputed territory, an organization was 
formed, 2 known as the Company of New France. To this com- 
pany, the whole territory was ceded by the king on condition that 
French occupation of Acadia should be strengthened by new colo- 
nists. With this end in view, preparations were made for an 
expedition thither under the direction of Isaac de Razillai. 3 

By a charter granted February 2, 1629,* Charles I extended the 
bounds of Sir William Alexander's territory to the "gulf of 
California", with "the islands lying within the said gulf; 

as also all and whole the lands and bounds adjacent to 

the said gulf on the west and south, whether they be found a part 
of the continent or mainland or an island (as it is thought they 
are) which is commonly called and distinguished by the name of 
California' ' . This was for the encouragement of Sir William in 
"the expected revealing and discovery of a way or passage to 
those seas, which lie upon America on the west, commonly called 
the South Sea, from which the head, or source of that great river, 
or gulf of Canada, or some river flowing into it, is deemed to be 
not far distant". The lack of geographical knowledge, evinced 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 76-80. 

2 The company was organized by Cardinal Richelieu in 1627. Its charter 
not only gave the company all New France, but also the right to confer 
titles of distinction. Farnham Papers, I, 172. 

3 He was a distinguished naval commander and belonged to a well-known 
Touraine family. 

* Farnham Papers, I, 82-85. 



266 the; beginnings OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

in this description, is not surprising in a document of that period. 
Exploration of the American continent westward required time. 

Sir William Alexander doubtless received early information 
with reference to the designs of the Company of New France ; 
and April 30, 1630, x he granted to Claude de la Tour, his son 
Charles de la Tour and their heirs, "the country and coast of 
Acadia", both father and son having promised "to be good and 
faithful vassals" of the king of Scotland. Conditions, however, 
were soon and unexpectedly changed. About the time Razillai 
was ready to sail for Nova Scotia with his expeditionary force, 
Charles I, March 29, 1632, by the treaty of St. Germains 2 restored 
to I<ouis XIII, king of France, the whole of Acadia — a heavy 
blow to English interests and claims on the American coast. 
Razillai was appointed governor of Acadia, and having now no 
need of the forces he had collected for reconquering the country, 
and with a grant to himself of the river and bay of St. Croix, 3 he 
set sail to assume command in Acadia. Charles de la Tour was 
made one of his lieutenants, and seems to have been assigned to 
the command of the territory extending east of the St. Croix 
river. He made his headquarters at St. John, where the river 
St. John empties into the Bay of Fundy. Aulnay, the other 
lieutenant, who was directed to dispossess the English at Penob- 
scot, was given command there with instructions, it is said, to 
extend French control as far as the Kennebec if possible. 4 

The treaty of St. Germains restored to France "all the places 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 128-132. 

2 lb., I, 175-177. 

8 lb., I, 172-174. 

4 So little is known concerning Razillai's orders to his lieutenants that 
while in the Farnham Papers (I, 260) we have the statement, "It is believed 
that De Razilly, at the same time at which he made la Tour commander in 
West Acadia, appointed D'Aulney his lieutenant in I$ast Acadia", in the 
Mass. Hist. Soc. Ed. of Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation (II, 206) 
la Tour is said to have been assigned command east of the St. Croix river and 
Aulnay that to the west of that river. This seems to have been the arrange- 
ment, but documentary evidence, for which search has been made, is lack- 
ing. 



THE FRENCH AT CASTINE. 267 

occupied in New France, Acadia and Canada by the subjects of 
the king of Great Britain". Evidently the Pilgrims regarded 
their trading post at Penobscot, now Castine, as within the limits 
of British territory, and continued occupation and trade there, 
notwithstanding the rifling of their trading house in 1631, as 
already mentioned. There was also English occupation still far- 
ther to the eastward. Bradford, under date of 1631, records 1 the 
opening of a trading house "beyond Penobscot", by Mr. Allerton 
of Plymouth. The location was at what is now known as Machias. 
It was not a Pilgrim enterprise, however ; in fact, it disregarded 
Pilgrim interests. Bradford, in his allusion to it, says that Aller- 
ton 's purpose was "to cut off the trade" at Penobscot. He is 
said to have had as a partner, or agent, Richard Vines of Saco. 
Vines, as has been stated, had a grant of land at Saco, with John 
Oldham as a co-partner ; but that grant in no way could be made 
a basis of a claim at Machias. Allerton, and those associated 
with him, were in possession of territory there, as indeed were 
the Pilgrims at Penobscot, considering the place within British 
territory. In character, Allerton and his company were so defi- 
cient that Bradford describes them as "a company of base fel- 
lows", and mentions "gross miscarriages", for which Allerton 
subsequently was called to account by the church at Plymouth 
and made confession. The French, also, called Allerton and his 
associates to account. In the fall of 1633, la Tour descended 
upon them as interlopers on French territory ; and in the conflict 
connected with the affair, as Winthrop records, 2 two of the men 
were killed, three others were carried away and also "the goods". 
Bradford, in his statement of the case, adds, "This was the end 
of that project". 3 

Razallai, in arriving on the American coast, established himself 
at Iya Heve (Iyiverpool) , Nova Scotia, where he erected a fort. 
Aulnay, in accordance with his orders "to clear the coast unto 

1 History of Plymouth Plantation, Mass. Hist. Soc, Ed. 1912, II, 133. 

2 Journal, I, 117. 

3 History of Plymouth Plantation, II, 133, 134 



268 The) beginnings of colonial maine. 

Pemaquid and Kennebec of all persons whatever", 1 proceeded to 
take possession of Penobscot. Bradford, in his account of 
Aulnay's procedure, wrote: 2 "Aulnay, coming into the harbor 
of Penobscot, and having before got some of the chief that 
belonged to the house aboard his vessel, by subtlety coming upon 
them in their shallop, he got them to pilot him in ; and after get- 
ting the rest into his power, he took possession of the house in 
the name of the king of France ; and partly by threatening, and 
otherwise, made Mr. Willett (their agent there) to approve of the 
sale of the goods there unto him, of which he set the price him- 
self in effect, and made an inventory thereof (yet leaving out sun- 
dry things) , but made no payment for them ; but told them in 
convenient time he would do it if they came for it. For the 
house and fortifications, etc., he would not allow, nor account 
anything, saying that they which build on another man's ground 
do forfeit the same. So thus turning them out of all (with a 
great deal of compliment and many fine words) , he let them have 
their shallop, and some victuals to bring them home." 3 

On their arrival at Plymouth, the Pilgrim party reported the 
facts connected with Aulnay's seizure of the trading house and its 
goods. At once the Pilgrim spirit was stirred, 4 and their leaders 

1 Mass. Hist. Society's Coll., 3rd Series, VII, 94. 

2 History of Plymouth Plantation, II, 206, 207. 

3 In his account of the great storm that struck the James at the Isles of 
Shoals, Rev. Richard Mather mentions an incident in connection with this 
French descent upon the Pilgrim trading house at Penobscot. The trading 
house was in charge of Thomas Willett of Plymouth, and Mather records : 
"In the storm, one Mr. Willett of New Plimouth, and other 3 men with him, 
having been turned out of all their havings at Penobscot about a fortnight 
before, and coming along with us in our ship from Richmond's island, with 
his boat and goods in it made fast at the stern of our ship, lost his boat with 
all that was therein, the violence of the waves breaking the boat in pieces, 
and sinking the bottom of it into the bottom of the sea. ' ' Journal, August 
15, 1635. 

* Edward Trelawny, at Richmond's island, also had stirrings, and he urged 
his brother, in Plymouth, England, to petition to the L/ords "for some sea- 
sonable course to be taken with the French here, otherwise there will be 
but small hopes in continuing our plantations so near them who daily draw 



THE FRENCH AT CASTING. 269 

proceeded "to consult with their friends in the Bay", intending 
with their approval "to hire a ship of force and seek to beat out 
the French" ; regarding evidently the St. Croix, not the Penob- 
scot, as the western boundary of French territory, as in the grant 
to Sir William Alexander. The Bay colonists gave their approval 
to the Pilgrim project, "if themselves could bear the charge". 
Accordingly the Pilgrims secured for their purpose a vessel of 
above three hundred tons, named the Great Hope, "well fitted 
with ordnance" and commanded by "one Girling", who agreed 
to drive off the French and deliver the trading house again into 
the hands of the Plymouth men for seven hundred pounds of 
beaver, which was to be delivered to him there when he had 
accomplished the undertaking. If he failed, Girling was "to lose 
his labor and have nothing' ' . 

Captain Myles Standish, with twenty men, accompanied Girling 
to Penobscot in a Pilgrim vessel, on which was the promised 
beaver. He piloted the Great Hope to the harbor of Penobscot ; 
but before the French fort was within reach of his guns, Girling, 
without waiting to summon the French to surrender, as Captain 
Standish "had commission and order so to do, neither would do 
it himself", and so come to "a fair parley" ; but he began "to 
shoot at a distance like a mad man, and did them no hurt at all" . 
The Pilgrims were indignant and remonstrated with Girling, who 
"at last, when he saw his own folly", placed his vessel in the 
position he should have taken at first and ' 'bestowed a few shot 
to good purpose' ' . But with these few shot he exhausted his sup- 
ply of powder, and was obliged to retire, "by which means", 
says Bradford, "the enterprise was made frustrate, and the French 
encouraged ; they lay close under a work of earth, and let him 
consume himself ' . When Girling made known this condition of 
things to Captain Standish, the latter, in order that the expedition 
might not prove a failure, offered to get a supply of powder at the 

towards us, whose neighborhood (I much fear) will prove very prejudicial 

unto us for either we must better fortify, or else expose ourselves 

to the loss of all". Trelawny Papers, 78. 



270 the; beginnings of colonial mains. 

nearest plantation. The offer was accepted and Standish bore 
away ; but subsequently, learning that Girling intended to seize 
the Pilgrim vessel on his return and so secure the beaver, Standish 
sent to Girling the promised powder supply, but took the beaver 
home. Girling made no further attempt to recover the trading 
house at Penobscot and "went his way". 1 

This "Rooting out of the English at Penobscot" was an occa- 
sion of anxiety to the English settlers farther down the coast. 
Winthrop, from some source, received a report that the French 
with a larger expedition, threatened "to displant them all" as far 
as forty degrees. The extent of the French claim, however, was 
only "unto Pemaquid and Kennebec" ; but such a report may 
have had some basis in irresponsible statements that soon found 
their way to the Maine settlements. The report occasioned alarm. 
Edward Trelawny, writing January 10, 1636, from Richmond's 
island to his brother, expressed a fear of such an encroachment. 
We must better fortify", he urged, "or else expose ourselves to 
the loss of all, which may be prevented by a speedy preparation 
against all assaults" . 2 Winter, writing from the same place in the 
following summer, and also to Robert Trelawny, added: "The 
French have made themselves strong at the place they took last 
year here from the English, and do report they will have more of 
the plantations here about us, and this [island] for one ; therefore 
we shall need to strengthen this plantation for it lies very open as 
yet for the enemy." 3 

In their disappointment occasioned by Girling' s failure, the 
Pilgrims gave consideration to added measures having reference 
to the recovery of their possessions at Penobscot. The result was 
that they turned again to their friends in the Bay, expressing 
their fears that the French were now likely to fortify themselves 
strongly in the position they had taken and would prove "ill 

1 History of Plymouth Plantation, II, 210, 211. 

2 Trelawny Papers, 78. 

3 lb., 86. 



THE FRENCH AT CASTINE. 271 

neighbors to the English". 1 The Bay colonists at first evidently 
shared their apprehensions ; and at the September meeting of the 
court, it was "Agreed, that Plymouth shall be aided with men 
and munitions to supplant the French at Penobscot ; and it was 
ordered, that Captain Sellanova shall be sent for, to confer with 
about this business" . 2 Moreover, the governor of the Bay colony 
and his assistants, in a letter dated October 9, 1635, and signed 
by all of these officials, replied formally to the Pilgrim request, 
recognizing the ' 'weightiness' ' of the communication, and express- 
ing a desire for a conference with some "man of trust, furnished 
with instructions from yourselves, to make such agreement with 
us about this business as may be useful for you and equal for us" . 
In response to this request, the Pilgrims sent to Boston two of 
their number, Thomas Prence and Captain Myles Standish, 
instructing them to make an agreement with the Bay colonists 
upon these terms— "that if they would afford such assistance as, 
together with their own, was like to effect the thing, and also 
bear a considerable part of the charge, they would go on ; if not, 
they (having lost so much already) should not be able, but must 
desist and wait further opportunity as God should give, to help 
themselves." 3 

The conference was a disappointment to the Pilgrims; "for 
when it came to the issue, they [the Bay colonists] would be at 
no charge", says Bradford. Deputy Governor Bellingham, in a 
letter referring to the conference and its results, wrote: "We 
showed our willingness to help, but withal we declared our pres- 
ent condition, and in what state we were, for our ability to help ; 
which we for our parts shall be willing to improve, to procure 
you sufficient supply of men and munition. But for matter of 
moneys we have no authority at all to promise ; and if we should, 
we should rather disappoint you than encourage you by that help, 
which we are not able to perform." * 

1 History of Plymouth Plantation, II, 211. 

2 Mass. Colony Records, I, 160. 

3 History of Plymouth Plantation, II, 212. 
* lb., II, 213. 



272 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE). 

The Pilgrims evidently regarded these words as a diplomatic 
expression of a refusal on the part of the Bay colonists to engage 
in the proposed enterprise on the terms submitted. Bradford 
refers to Bellingham's letter as a "breaking off" of these consid- 
erations concerning a recapture of Penobscot ; and accuses some 
of their merchants of entering into trade relations with the French 
there, furnishing them shortly after both "provisions and powder 
and shot", and continuing so to do afterward "as they have 
opportunity for their profit". In fact, he adds, "the English 
themselves have been the chiefest supporters of these French ; for 
besides these [Boston merchants], the plantation at Pemaquid 
(which lies near unto them) doth not only supply them with what 
they want, but gives them continual intelligence of all things that 
passes among the English (especially some of them) , so as it is 
no marvel though they still grow, and encroach more and more 
upon the English, and fill the Indians with guns and munition to 
the great danger of the English, who lie open and unfortified, 
living upon husbandry ; and the other closed up in their forts, 
well fortified, and live upon trade in good security. If these 
things be not looked to, and remedy provided in time, it may 
easily be conjectured what they may come to. But I leave 
them". 1 Bradford had abundant occasion for such complaints, 
and only by the exercise of great self-restraint, doubtless, did he 
now withhold added and even stronger reflections. 

French interests in territory adjoining the Maine settlements, 
and even farther down the coast, were affected by the death of 
Razillai, which occured at I^a Heve in November, 1635. No time 
seems to have been lost by la Tour in seeking to obtain for him- 
self from the company of New France a concession of the territory 
he occupied on the St. John river. Such a concession, includ- 
ing lands between the forty-fifth and forty-sixth degrees of lati- 
tude, was accorded to him January 15, 1636. 2 Nominally a Prot- 
estant, he is mentioned in the concession as possessing zeal for the 

1 History of Plymouth Plantation, II, 213, 214. 

2 Farnham Papers, I, 212, 213. 



THE FRENCH AT CASTINE. 273 

"Catholic religion, Apostolic and Roman". He received at the 
same time the title of "lieutenant general, for the king, of Acadia 
in New France' ' . The intention seems to have been to make la 
Tour the successor of Razillai. But however this may be, la Tour 
and Aulnay were soon engaged in a struggle for the supremacy, 
which was continued through many years and was most destructive 
to French interests. 

When reports of this struggle reached France, the king, Louis 
XIV, endeavored to allay dissension by directing the rivals to 
limit their activities to matters within the territory to which they 
had been assigned by Razillai. Inasmuch, however, as la Tour, 
by the Company of New France, had been designated ' 'lieutenant 
general of Acadia", he had ground for regarding his authority as 
extending as far as that bestowed upon Razillai. So the quarrel 
was continued. At length, Aulnay seems to have reached the ear 
of the king, and his statement concerning affairs in New France 
evidently made an impression favorable to his interests ; for the 
king, early in 1641, issued an order authorizing Aulnay to arrest 
la Tour and send him to France. L,a Tour, however, was so 
strongly intrenched at the mouth of the St. John that Aulnay 
was unable to exercise the authority he had received. Moreover 
at that time the French government had in hand matters that 
were regarded as of greater importance than the quarrels of French 
officials in America ; and the rivals were allowed to continue the 
struggle in which they were engaged without further interference. 

L,a Tour, avowing himself a Protestant, his interests at the time 
doubtless suggesting the avowal, 1 now turned to the Puritans of 
Massachusetts bay for sympathy and aid ; and some Boston mer- 
chants, to whom he offered desired trading privileges, grasping 
the opportunity, sent a small vessel thither with a supply of goods. 
The parties connected with the transaction stopped on their return 
at Pemaquid, where to their surprise they found Aulnay, who 

1 '%a Tour was ready at any time to change his religious belief for his 
own advantage." Farnham Papers, I, 260. 

18 



274 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

informed the Boston traders that he had authority for the arrest 
of la Tour ; and to emphasize his present relations to the French 
government, he threatened to seize any Massachusetts vessel that 
should again attempt trading relations with the French at St. 
John. 

In the spring of 1642, Aulnay entered upon offensive operations, 
and blockaded the mouth of the St. John river. Accordingly, 
when a vessel from Rochelle arrived on the coast, bringing one 
hundred and forty colonists to la Tour, the vessel was unable to 
reach the settlement, and proceeded to Boston, taking on board 
la Tour and his wife, who under cover of night succeeded in 
avoiding the blockade. Prominent citizens of Boston were ready 
to render la Tour assistance; but the governor and others, for 
prudential reasons, were unwilling to involve the colony in French 
dissensions. All, however, were in sympathy with la Tour, in 
the hope, doubtless, that the rivals would destroy each other sooner 
or later ; and they allowed la Tour to obtain both men and ships 
as opportunity offered. In this way, la Tour at length secured 
four vessels and one hundred and forty-two soldiers and sailors 
for an expedition against Aulnay. When all preparations were 
completed, the expedition set sail for Penobscot. It was midsum- 
mer, and on la Tour's arrival there, he made a vigorous attack 
upon Aulnay' s fort. But Aulnay defended his position with such 
skill and success that la Tour was compelled to withdraw, and the 
Massachusetts vessels returned to Boston. The Bay officials were 
careful to inform Aulnay of their non-action in the affair ; and 
though Aulnay was not inclined to accept their explanations, he 
was not in a situation in which he could give exact expression to 
his feelings. His situation, however, was such that he deemed it 
important to strengthen himself with prominent French officials ; 
and he decided to return to France and present his case to the 
government in person. 

Finding conditions in France unfavorable for any attention to 
his interests, Aulnay returned to Acadia and allowed matters to 
drift on as heretofore. But at length the traders on the coast, 



THE) FRENCH AT CASTING. 275 

having business relations with both Aulnay and la Tour, not find- 
ing it easy to secure settlement with either, held a conference and 
decided to press their claims jointly and personally. Accordingly 
Mr. Shurt of Pemaquid, Mr. Vines of Saco and Mr. Wannerton 
of Piscataqua, set out in midsummer, 1644, with this purpose in 
view. On their arrival at Penobscot, Aulnay held them as pris- 
oners a few days, and then allowed them to depart. There was 
no debt collecting, and the creditors evidently regarded themselves 
as fortunate in escaping added indignity. Then they proceeded 
to St. John, where la Tour suggested an attack upon Aulnay at 
Penobscot. Wannerton — a worthless fellow according to such 
reports as have come down to us concerning his character — con- 
cluded to join la Tour in such an expedition. Shurt and Vines 
seem to have stood aloof in the matter, though both doubtless 
were ready to share in any financial results that would enable 
la Tour to discharge his obligations to them. 

I^a Tour's force in the expedition consisted of about twenty 
men. Possibly on their arrival it was found that Aulnay' s fort 
was more strongly defended than they expected. At least such 
would seem to have been the fact ; for instead of making the pro- 
posed attack they proceeded, probably undetected by Aulnay, to 
a farmhouse about six miles from the fort where three of Aulnay' s 
men were posted. One of these was killed in the attack made 
upon the house, as also was Wannerton ; while the remaining two 
of Aulnay 's men were taken prisoners. The house was then 
burned, some cattle were killed and the attacking party soon with- 
drew ; but instead of returning to St. John, they made their 
way to Boston. 1 

The evident sympathy of the Bay colonists for la Tour was 
resented by Aulnay, and not long after the Penobscot affair he sent 
a commissioner, M. Morie, and ten men, to Boston with documents 
attesting the French government's recognition of Aulnay as gov- 
ernor of Acadia and lieutenant general, and its withdrawal of its 

1 The story is told by Hubbard, Hutchinson and the early writers of New 
England history ; also by Williamson, History of the State of Maine, I, 315. 



276 the; beginnings of colonial maine. 

earlier recognition of la Tour. The result of the conference that 
followed was an agreement on the part of Governor Endicott and 
Aulnay's commissioner, made and ratified October 8, 1644, to 
"observe and keep firm peace" with "Aulnay and all the French 
under his command in Acadia". It was also expressly stipulated 
that it should be "lawful for all men, both French and English, 
to trade with each other". 1 This agreement was ratified by the 
United Colonies. Aulnay, however, continued to make trouble, 
and seized the Massachusetts vessels that attempted to trade with 
la Tour at St. John. When the Bay authorities called attention 
to this action as breaking the agreement recently made, Aulnay 
threatened resentment on the part of the king of France. Endi- 
cott and his associates could make no such claim to royal support. 
For two years the forces of Charles I, and those of the parliamen- 
tary commanders, had been engaged in the fierce conflicts of civil 
war. The battle of Marston Moor was fought July 2, 1644, only 
three months before the above agreement was made ; and when 
Aulnay threatened the Puritan colonists with resentment on the 
part of the French king, Charles I was in no condition to aid his 
own supporters, much less the colonists of Massachusetts bay. 
But the colonists manifested no signs of trepidation in their 
answer to Aulnay. "They were not afraid", they said, "of any- 
thing that he could do for them, and as for his master, they knew 
he was a mighty prince, but they hoped he was just, as well as 
mighty, and that he would not fall upon them without hearing 
their cause ; but if he should, they had a God in whom they put 
their trust, when all failed". 2 

In the spring of 1645, learning that la Tour was not at St. 
John, Aulnay saw an opportunity, as he thought, for a success- 
ful attack upon the garrison there. On his way thither, he fell 
in with a Massachusetts trading vessel, which he seized, and 
then landed the crew on a desolate island without food and other- 
wise in a destitute condition. Arriving at St. John, he at once 

1 Sullivan, History of the District of Maine, 278, 279. 

2 lb., 280. 



THE FRENCH AT CASTING. 277 

attacked la Tour's fort ; but the commander's wife, in the absence 
of her husband, proved equal to the occasion and made such a 
vigorous defense of the fort that Aulnay was compelled to abandon 
the undertaking with a loss of twenty killed and thirteen wounded. 
On his voyage back to Penobscot, Aulnay stopped at the island 
where he landed his Massachusetts captives taken on his way to 
St. John. They had suffered much in the ten days they had 
spent under distressing circumstances. Without returning either 
their vessel or goods, Aulnay gave them an old shallop, and the 
men made their way homeward as best they could. 1 

The Puritan spirit asserted itself when the men on their arrival 
made known their story of inhumane treatment ; and the Massa- 
chusetts authorities sent a message to Aulnay calling him to 
account for his continued disregard of his agreement with them. 
Aulnay promised to send messengers to Boston for further confer- 
ence ; but it was not until late in 1646 that the messengers made 
their way thither. On their arrival, they presented a demand for 
eight thousand pounds on account of injuries which Aulnay 
claimed he had received from Puritan sources. Massachusetts 
indignantly denied the rightfulness of the claim and insisted upon 
strict fulfilment of existing obligations. Finally Aulnay 's mes- 
sengers yielded, the former agreement to be regarded by both 
parties as still binding ; and the Massachusetts governor, on the 
return of the messengers, sent to Aulnay a costly sedan, which 
the viceroy of Mexico had presented to his sister in the West 
Indies. In some transaction, the sedan had come into the posses- 
sion of the captain of a Boston vessel in a harbor there. On 
returning home, the captain brought the sedan with him, and 
presented it to the governor, who doubtless found pleasure in 
passing it on to Aulnay. 2 

Meanwhile Aulnay and la Tour continued their bitter warfare. 
In the spring of 1647, in the absence of la Tour, Aulnay again 
attacked the fort at St. John. Madame la Tour, as before, made 

1 Williamson, I, 218. 

2 Hubbard, 496, 497, Williamson, I, 319. 



278 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

a spirited resistance ; but at length, accepting favorable proffered 
terms of surrender, she delivered the fort into the possession of 
Aulnay, who, disregarding the agreement into which he had 
entered, put the garrison to death with the exception of a single 
man, and compelled Madame la Tour, with a rope around her 
neck, to witness the execution. Sinking under the heavy burden 
of her sufferings, Madame la Tour, in the short time of three 
weeks, died. L,a Tour, for awhile, lived a low, marauding exist- 
ence. As to Aulnay, little information is recorded concerning 
him covering the years that followed the massacre at St. John. 
He died in 1651. A single gleam of romance falls at length upon 
this long record of strife between these two rivals. For notwith- 
standing the bitterness of the conflict, and its many unhappy, 
and even bitter memories, la Tour, in 1652, married Aulnay's 
widow. Then, returning to his possessions on the St. John river, 
and developing under changed circumstances some better traits of 
character, though not to an extent desired by his Massachusetts 
creditors, la Tour spent the closing years of his life in the undis- 
turbed enjoyment of his large estate. 1 

Penobscot for awhile remained a French outpost, though no 
mention is made of la Tour's interest in the place. Meanwhile 
events of the greatest importance in the political history of Eng- 
land rapidly succeeded one another. A great civil war opened 
and ended. Charles I was beheaded January 29, 1649. The com- 
monwealth of England took the place of the kingdom of England. 
The protectorate followed, and the year 1653 found the executive 
power in England lodged in Oliver Cromwell as lord protector. 
At that time, twenty-one years had elapsed since Charles I, by the 
treaty of St. Germain, ceded to the French king "all the places 
occupied in New France, Acadia and Canada by the subjects of 
Great Britain". 2 The designation evidently was understood to 
include all the territory northeast of the Penobscot bay and river, 
a very small part of which was occupied by British subjects, and 

1 Hutchinson, History of Massachusetts, I, 127. 

2 Farnham Papers, I, 176. 



THE) FRENCH AT CASTINE). 279 

its delivery to the French monarch, an arbitrary act on the part of 
Charles, was strongly denounced at the time by many of the 
king's subjects on both sides of the sea, but especially in New 
England, where the near settlements of the French were a con- 
stant source of irritation. 

Under existing conditions in England, the Puritans of Massa- 
chusetts now found easy approach to the lord protector, who in 
1654 gave orders for the reconquest of Acadia. This was soon 
accomplished by an expedition under the command of Major Rob- 
ert Sedgwick of Chariest, own. No opposition was made at Penob- 
scot, nor even at St. John, where doubtless any change in terri- 
torial matters would not have disturbed la Tour so long as he was 
left in possession of his large estate. By a treaty of peace, made 
at Westminster, November 3, 1655, between Cromwell and 
I,ouis XIV, king of France, "the right of either to the three forts 
of Pentecost [Pentagoet or Penobscot], St. John and Port Royal 
in America", was left to be determined by commissioners. The 
commissioners, however, did not proceed to action, and the ques- 
tions involved remained unsettled until the ratification of the 
treaty of Breda, 1 July 21, 1667; but, notwithstanding this non- 
action, Cromwell, September 17, 1656, proceeded to appoint, as 
governor of Nova Scotia, Colonel Thomas Temple, whose terri- 
tory was extended along the Maine coast to the St. George's river 
and "Muscontus" (Muscongus). 

This account of the French at Castine is carried forward thus 
far in order to bring within the limits of a single chapter the story 
of the occupation of this interesting location on the Maine coast 
throughout the period under review in this volume. The name 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 311-313. By this treaty Charles II restored to France 
"the country of Acadia in North America", without defining its limits. But 
notwithstanding the royal proclamation, Colonel Temple retained posses- 
sion of the territory until the following year. Charles then ordered him to 
comply with the treaty stipulations. Accordingly, Colonel Temple, July 7, 
1670, "by reason of present sickness of body upon myself", laid the unpleas- 
ant duty upon one of his subordinates, and Acadia again became a French 
possession. 



280 the; beginnings of colonial mains. 

Castine belongs to a later and more romantic period in the 
history of colonial Maine. Pilgrim occupation of this beautiful 
peninsula at the head of Penobscot bay unquestionably became an 
important fact in strengthening the claim of Great Britain to ter- 
ritory east of the Penobscot ; and Castine shares distinction with 
Pemaquid because of its manifold historical relations throughout 
a large portion of colonial period. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Gorges Receives a Royal Charter. 

REFERENCE already had been made to the division of the 
territory of New England by the council, February 3, 1635, 
a little more than four months before the surrender of its 
charter to the king. The division was into eight parcels, which 
by lot were assigned to eight of the members of the council, each 
of whom, except the last two — Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who 
received number seven, and Sir William Alexander, who received 
number eight — were to have an additional grant of ten thousand 
acres to be laid out on ' 'the east part of Sagadahoc' ' . Gorges' part 
was the territory already granted to him by the council, extend- 
ing from the Piscataqua to the Sagadahoc; and Sir William 
Alexander's included the territory from the St. Croix river to 
Pemaquid, up the Pemaquid to its source "as it tendeth north- 
wards", thence to the Kennebec and "up that river by its short- 
est course to the river of Canada' ' . These two parcels, with sixty 
thousand acres east of Sagadahoc, granted to those receiving the 
remaining six allotments, covered in general what is now known 
as the territory of the State of Maine. 1 The parcel assigned to 
Captain John Mason was confirmed to him by the council April 
22, 1635 ; and to the ten thousand acres "on the southeast part of 
Sagadahoc, at the mouth or entrance of it", which was added to 
his original grant of New Hampshire, was given, by the council, 
the name of Massonia (Masonia). 2 

Four days later, at a meeting held in the chamber of the earl 
of Carlisle at Whitehall, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, in his own name 
and in the name of divers lords and others, ancient patentees and 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 183-188. 
3 lb., I, 194. 



282 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

adventurers in the plantation of New England, requested the king 
to give the attorney general orders to draw patents for the allot- 
ments of the lands mutually agreed upon by the council ; so that 
those who had received allotments, "having his majesty's grant 
of the same' ' , might ' 'the more cheerfully proceed in the plant- 
ing" of their several provinces under laws and ordinances "there 
to be established and put in execution by such [of] his majesty's 
lieutenants or governor as shall be employed for those services." 1 
The petition was drafted by Gorges, who, as early as 1635, had 
perceived, as he recorded, that it was the pleasure of the king to 
make him governor of New England ; but while in the petition 
he refrained from any mention of his own name in connection 
with the office of governor of New England, he still had the gov- 
ernorship in view. 

The presentation of this petition occurred May 1, 1635, 2 and the 
formal act in the surrender of the great patent by the council for 
New England followed a little more than a month later. 3 Thus 
far the plans of Gorges and his associates were advanced without 
delay. But the eight patentees, among whom the territory of 
New England had been divided, not receiving from the king char- 
ters of their allotments as promptly as they expected, held a meet- 
ing November 26, at which it was voted, "That the passing of 
the particular patents was to be expedited with all conveniency" ; 
and a committee was appointed to confer with the attorney gen- 
eral and hasten, if possible, the desired action. No report of this 
committee has been preserved, so far as is known. Doubtless the 
"particular patents" were prepared, and one of these, it is sup- 
posed, has come down to us in a copy of the charter of New 
Hampshire, granted to Captain John Mason August 19, 1635, and 
was discovered in recent years in a collection of documents bear- 
ing upon Mason's claims to lands in New England. 4 It is with- 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 200-202. 

2 lb., I, 201. 

3 lb., I, 203-205. 

4 These documents, formerly in the possession of Mr. Moses A. Safford of 



GORGES RECEIVES A ROYAI, CHARTER. 283 

out the signature of the king, a fact that may account for delay in 
its delivery, as well as for the delay that occasioned anxiety on 
the part of all the patentees. Gorges certainly already regarded 
himself as legally in possession of his part of the division ; for in 
an indenture, dated September 17, 1635, he conveyed lands on 
the Newichewannock [Salmon Falls] river to Captain John 
Mason. 1 

There was added delay, also, in connection with Gorges' appoint- 
ment as governor of New England, which the king seemed to 
have on his heart in recognition of the veteran's services in con- 
nection with English colonization in America, but which, for 
some reason, had been postponed again and again. The royal 
purpose, however, was finally accomplished, Gorges' commission 
bearing date July 23, 1637. More clearly in connection with this 
transaction is seen the design Charles had in view in establishing 
a general government in New England. Many mischiefs, the 
king said, had arisen there, "and are like more and more to arise 

by reason of the several opinions, differing humors 

and many other differences springing up between them". Rec- 
ognizing it as a duty, therefore, not to suffer the people of New 
England "to run to ruin, and so religious and good intents to 
languish for want of timely remedy and sovereign assistance", 
the king made mention of Gorges' "fidelity, circumspection and 
knowledge of his government in martial and civil affairs, besides 
his understanding of the state of those countries wherein he hath 
been an immediate mover and a principal actor, to the great preju- 

Kittery, Me., but now of the Maine Historical Society, were brought to notice 
by Mr. William M. Sargent of Portland in 1887, when superintending the 
publication of the York Deeds ; and the royal charter was printed by him in 
the introduction to II, 20-39. John Ward Dean also reprinted it in his Cap- 
twin John Mason, the Founder of New Hampshire, Prince Society, 1887, 360- 
378. An extract from this charter, relating to Maine territory, is printed in 
the Farnham Papers, I, 205-208. 

1 This is one of the collection of documents to which reference is made in 
the preceding note. See York Deeds, II, 39-42, Captain John Mason, the 
Founder of New Hampshire, 387-390, and Farnham Papers, I, 208-211. 



284 the; beginnings op colonial mains. 

dice of his estate, long troubles and the loss of many of his good 
friends and servants in making the first discovery of those coasts' ' , 
and announced Gorges' appointment, and declared his purpose to 
second him with ' 'royal and ample authority' ' - 1 

It was a proud day in Sir Ferdinando's life when this royal 
commission came into his hands. Doubtless his hope was strong 
that in a short time he would find himself at the head of a general 
government for all New England ; but even in his commission 
there was an intimation that circumstances might make it neces- 
sary for a deputy to take Gorges' place "during his abode here in 
England". He cherished his hope, however, and as the years 
came and went it still continued alluringly to beckon him on. 

The rapid growth of the New England settlements at this time 
was now attracting the attention of the government, and attempts 
were made to restrict emigration hither. In Gorges' commission 
as governor, it was expressly stated that none were to be "per- 
mitted to go into any those parts to plant or inhabit, but that 
they first acquaint our said governor therewith", and shall receive 
directions "where to sit down". 2 In this emigration movement 
Gorges was deeply interested, especially after the king had 
declared it to be his purpose to send him to New England as gov- 
ernor. Sir Ferdinando's attitude toward these departing colonists 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 219-221. 

2 A license of this kind, issuing from Whitehall and bearing date, July 21, 
1639, is of special interest because of the party to whom it was granted : 
' 'Upon the humble petition of Giles Elbridge, of the city of Bristol, merchant, 
praying license for the exportation of about eighty passengers and some pro- 
visions, formerly accustomed for the increase and support of his fishing plan- 
tation in New England, their lordships did this day give leave unto the said 
Elbridge to export for New England the said eighty passengers, together with 
such provisions as hath been formerly accustomed, provided that he do give 
bond here by himself, or some other sufficient man to the clerk of the 
council, to his majesty's use, that none of the said persons shall be shipped 
until publicly, before the mayor of Bristol, they have taken the oaths of alle- 
giance and supremacy. And the lord treasurer is hereby prayed and 
required to give order to the officers of the port of Bristol accordingly, any 
former order of the board, or other restraint to the contrary in any wise 
notwithstanding." Me. Hist. Society's Coll., Series I, 5, 222, 223. 



GORGES RECEIVES A ROYAE CHARTER. 285 

found expression in what he said to the passengers on the Angel 
Gabriel in the harbor at Bristol before that vessel set sail on her 
ill-fated voyage to Pemaquid, — "that if he ever came there, he 
would be a true friend unto them". 

There is a letter 1 from Lord Maynard to Archbishop Laud, 
written March 17, 1638, in which reference is made to "incredible 
numbers of persons of very good abilities who have sold their 
lands and are upon their departure thence". Fourteen ships, it 
was stated, were ready to sail from London as soon as the spring 
opened. There is also an early reference to an order that the 
"lord treasurer of England should take speedy and effectual 
course to stay eight ships in the river of Thames, bound for New 
England". 2 Cotton Mather says that dissatisfaction with condi- 
tions in England was the cause of this increased emigration, and 
he adds : ' 'There were many countermands given to the passage 
of the people that were now steering of this western course ; and 
there was a sort of uproar made among no small part of the nation 
that this people should not be let go." Among those bound for f 
New England, who were "so stopt", he mentions Oliver Crom- \v 
well, John Hampden and Sir Arthur Haselrig, "whom I suppose 
their adversaries", he adds, "would not have so studiously 
detained at home, if they had foreseen events". 8 

This story, which in various forms has found a place in English 
literature on both sides of the sea, and in the writings of such 
historians as Henry Hallam and Lord Macaulay (but is denied or 
rejected by Bancroft and others), has its earliest mention, it is 
supposed, in a work published in 1660, by Dr. Charles Bates, an 
ardent royalist, who was physician to Charles I when at Oxford, 
to Oliver Cromwell while lord protector, and to Charles II after 
the restoration. He refers to Cromwell's squandering his own 
and his wife's estate, then "playing the penitent", etc., and he 
adds : "after that, by means of Sir Robert Steward, some royal- 

1 Public Records Office, London, Colonial Papers, Charles I, IX, No. 38. 

2 Oldmixon, British Empire in America, 1st Ed., I, 42, 43. 

3 Magnalia, Book I, 23, 1st Ed. 



286 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

ists and clergymen, he was reconciled to his uncle, who could not 
before endure him, so that he made him his heir. But shortly 
after, having again run out all, he resolved to go to New England, 
and prepares all things for that end. In the meantime, by the 
help of sectarians, he was chosen a member of Parliament", etc. 1 
In this earliest printed report of the story, there is no mention of 
embarkation. The writer records only Cromwell's resolution and 
preparation for a voyage hither. The next writer who referred 
to the matter was William Lilly, who, in 1667, wrote his History 
of his Life and Times, and states that Cromwell "hired a passage 
in a ship" going to New England, "but ere she launched out for 
her voyage, a kinsman dieth leaving him a considerable fortune ; 
upon which he returns, pays his debts, became affected to reli- 
gion ; is elected in 1640 a member of Parliament, etc."' Hutch- 
inson, in his History of Massachusetts Bay, which was published 
in 1764, added Pym to the number of those "who are said to have 
been prevented by express order of the king "from removing to 
New England". 3 

Such a report, having its origin and becoming current so soon 
after this alleged refuge-seeking on the part of Cromwell is said 
to have occurred, must have had some basis. May it not have- 
been in some sudden outburst on the part of Cromwell in a 
moment of great discouragement and consequent depression, 
when conditions in England seemed to him well nigh hopeless ? 
Lord Clarendon tells us 4 that after the passage of the "Grand 
Petition and Remonstrance" by Parliament, November 22, 1641, 
Cromwell whispered to Lord Falkland as they left the House of 
Commons in company, "That if the remonstrance had been 
rejected, he would have sold all he had the next morning and 

1 For an interesting and valuable paper by John Ward Dean, entitled The 
Reported Embarkation of Cromwell and his Friends for New England, see 
New England Hist, and Gen. Register for 1866, 113-120. To it the writer 
is largely indebted for materials for the above account. 

London, 1822, 175, 176. 

3 I, 41, 42. 

4 History of the Rebellion, Oxford, 1720, I, 312. 



GORGES RECEIVES A ROYAL CHARTER. 287 

never have seen England more". Carlyle calls this "a vague 
report, gathered over dining tables long after". 1 It may have 
been. It should be remembered, however, that the story has 
reference to a great crisis in England's history. Strong feelings 
were aroused. At one time in that session members of the House 
"snatched their swords from their belts and handled them with 
significant gestures". But victory then was on Cromwell's side. 
At other times in those years of stress and storm he knew what 
it was to suffer defeat. Things did not always go as he would 
have them ; under such circumstances, however, he did not turn 
and flee. It was a new England, not New England, that was ever 
in Cromwell's thoughts and actions. For that new England he 
battled long and for it he was ready to give up his life. 2 

Sir Ferdinando Gorges, as has already appeared, was a staunch 
royalist, standing for all that Charles stood in his attempt to 
govern England without any reference to Parliament, and so 
making it necessary that Parliament in turn should govern with- 

1 Cromwell, 1845, I, 119. 

2 "On August 30 a mighty storm swept over England. The devil, said 
the cavaliers, was fetching home the soul of the tyrant. Oliver little recked 
of their sayings now. The winds howled around. His voice found utterance 
in one last prayer of faith : 'Lord', he cried, 'though I am a miserable and 
wretched creature, I am in covenant with thee through grace. And I may, 
I will come to thee, for thy people. Thou hast made me, though very 
unworthy, a mean instrument to do them some good, and thee service ; and 
many of them have set a high value upon me, though others wish and would 
be glad of my death. Lord, however thou do dispose of me, continue and go 
on to do good to them. Give them consistency of judgment, one heart, and 
mutual love ; and go on to deliver them, and with the work of reformation ; 
and make the name of Christ glorious in the world. Teach those who look 
too much on thy instruments to depend more upon thyself. Pardon such as 
desire to trample upon the dust of a poor worm, for they are thy people too. 
And pardon the folly of this short prayer, even for Jesus Christ's sake. And 
give us a good night, if it be thy pleasure. Amen.' For three more days 
Oliver lingered on. September 3 [1658] came— the day of Dunbar and Wor- 
cester. In the afternoon the brave spirit passed away to the rest which it 
had never known upon earth." S. R. Gardiner, The Puritan Revolution, 
190, 191. 



288 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

out any reference to him. 1 Out of regard for one so devoted to 
his person and interests, Charles had appointed Sir Ferdinando 
governor of all New England. Almost a year passed after this 
appointment was made, and the New England colonists were still 
directing their governmental affairs as hitherto. This was not 
according to the mind of Gorges, however, who June 20, 1638, 
wrote to Secretary Windebank, 2 calling attention to the import- 
ance of "maintaining and supporting foreign plantations", and 
noticing objections that evidently had been urged in certain 
royalist circles. One of these was the statement "that many of 
our planters have undertaken these designs rather out of seditious, 
phantastical and schismatical humors, than out of zeal to the 
honor of God or service to his majesty". The reference, doubt- 
less, was to the Pilgrim and Puritan settlers in Massachusetts 
bay. But though Gorges had no sympathy with such "humors", 
he replied that even if this were true, ' 'seldom doth any prince 
abandon people or leave the possession of kingdoms for those 
causes ; but rather seeks to win them with the largest conditions 
of all favor and freedom". Other objections were also consid- 
ered and refuted ; and finally Gorges directed attention to a ques- 
tion he deemed especially worthy of presentation in this connec- 
tion, namely, "By what means those refractory people may be 
drawn to submit themselves to a general governor"? In his 
answer to this question Gorges said that if the lords of the sev- 
eral provinces of New England would be pleased to settle their 
deputies and officers with some power for such a service, it would 
be well ; but for the present Gorges suggested the appointment of 
some one province ' 'not yet pestered with such people as are like 
to refuse any authority sent from hence to command them". 
Plainly he had in mind neither the province of Plymouth nor the 
province of Massachusetts bay, but rather his own province of 
New Somersetshire, which he desired to elevate to a more com- 
manding position than it had hitherto reached. Whether the 

1 S. R. Gardiner, The Puritan Revolution, Y19. 

2 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, III, 287-291. 



GORGES RECEIVES A ROYAE CHARTER. 289 

king gave to these considerations any serious attention is doubt- 
ful. Matters nearer home were pressing upon him with greater 
force than matters in New England. There was commotion in 
Scotland, and if Scotland was allowed to throw off the yoke as 
seemed imminent, why not England itself? 

But April 3, 1639, amid these troublesome distractions, Charles 
paused long enough to confirm to Gorges his allotment in the 
division of the great patent. In this new charter, 1 the title 
"Province of Maine", used in the grant made to Gorges by the 
council for New England in 1622, and later changed to New 
Somersetshire, was happily restored, the king directing that 
Gorges' "portion of the main land" should "forever hereafter be 
called and named the Province or County of Maine, and not by 
any other name or names whatsoever". It was indeed a royal 
charter, the king granting to his loyal, devoted adherent privi- 
leges that were almost without limit. Only such churches and 
chapels could be erected in the province as Gorges deemed ' 'meet 
and convenient". He was given authority to dedicate and con- 
secrate the same, or cause the same to be dedicated and conse- 
crated, according to the ecclesiastical laws of England ; and in 
this connection it was declared to be the king's will that "the 
religion now professed in the Church of England and ecclesiastical 
government now used in the same shall be forever hereafter pro- 
fessed, and with as much convenient speed as may [be], settled 
and established in and throughout the said province' ' . To Gorges, 
also, was given authority, with the assent of the greater part of 
the freeholders, "when there shall be any", to make and publish 
laws, ordinances, constitutions, reasonable and not repugnant or 
contrary but agreeable as near as conveniently may be to the laws 
of England, the authority extending to the imposition of "penal- 
ties, imprisonments, or other correction"; and, if the offense 
should require, the power of life and death was added, also par- 
doning power. Furthermore Gorges was given authority to 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 222, 243. 
19 



290 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

establish courts, ecclesiastical and civil, to constitute judges, jus- 
tices, magistrates and officers for hearing and determining all 
manner of cases, and to order and appoint what matters or things 
should be heard, determined or ordered in such courts ; also to 
displace and remove such judges, magistrates, etc., when Gorges 
saw fit. In cases of appeal, he was to proceed as in like cases in 
England. Also full power was given to him to raise, arm and 
employ troops in the province in case of "rebellion, tumult or 
mutiny", and to execute martial law against "rebels, traitors, 
mutineers and seditious persons in as ample manner and form as 
any captain general in the wars, or as any lieutenant or lieuten- 
ants of any county" in England ; also to erect "forts, fortresses, 
platforms, castles, cities, towns and villages", and to fortify the 
same "with men, ordnances, powder, shot, armor, etc." He was 
given power also to fix custom charges. Liberty of fishing was to 
be granted to all of the king's subjects, "as well in the sea as in 
the creeks of the province' ' , also the privilege of salting and dry- 
ing fish, and nets upon the shore, but "without any notable dam- 
age or injury" to Gorges. Moreover, trading or settlement in the 
province, "without the special license" of Gorges, was forbidden 
to all of the king's subjects of "whatever degree, quality or con- 
dition soever", and "oaths of allegiance and supremacy" accord- 
ing to forms already established in England, were to be duly 
administered. In fact, the powers conferred upon Gorges by the 
charter of the Province of Maine were well-nigh unlimited ; and 
the charter may be regarded as furnishing an indication of the 
authority Gorges was likely to have received had the king's pur- 
pose to send him to New England, as the head of a general gov- 
ernment of its several provinces, ripened into fulfilment. 

For thirty-five years, at least, Gorges had been prominently 
identified with colonization upon what is now known as the coast 
of Maine ; and his valuable services, especially with royalist ends 
in view, had now been generously rewarded and in such a way as 
must have been most gratifying to the aged knight. That it still 
was his purpose to proceed to New England is intimated in a let- 



GORGES RECEIVES A ROYAL CHARTER. 291 

ter addressed January 28, 1640, to Secretary Windebank. Some 
there were, that is, in his own province, he says, "flying to the 
governors of the Bay for authority to order their affairs (as if they 
were the supreme lords of that part of the world) ' ' . But how he 
should "speed in his resolution to make good his majesty's royal 
grant" did not appear. God, that governs all, only knows, he 
wrote; yet having his majesty's gracious favor, he suggested 
"nothing shall deter me from my attempt to make his powers 
available where I have his warrant to do it". His thoughts evi- 
dently had been stirred by the contents of letters that he had 
received from New England ; and in closing, he rightly designated 
himself as an humble servant and faithful subject of the king, 
coveting ' 'nothing more in this world than the honor of his sover- 
eign and prosperity of his nation' ' . 

The way not opening to him for proceeding to assume in person 
the government of his Province of Maine, Gorges in his planning 
concerning it, divided the territory into eight bailiwicks or coun- 
ties ; and these again into sixteen several hundreds and the hun- 
dreds into parishes and tithings "as the people did increase". 
Until he himself should be able to proceed to New England, he 
made provision for a deputy, chancellor, treasurer, marshal, 
judge-marshal, admiral, judge for determining maritime cases, 
master of the ordnance, also a secretary to the governor and 
council. These constituted the "standing councillors", to whom 
were added eight deputies "to be elected by the freeholders of the 
several counties", who were empowered not only to sit in the 
provincial courts but "to be assistants to the presidents thereof". 
In this arrangement for governing the province expression was 
also given to added provisions deemed by Gorges necessary for 
the ordering of the public affairs of the province. 2 It was an 
elaborate scheme, worked out with reference to a growth and 
prosperity to which the Province of Maine had not as yet attained. 
But in the added evidences that so many of his countrymen were 

1 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 294, 295. 

2 lb., II, 65-69. 



292 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

now making their way to New England, Gorges saw a prospect of 
securing a part of this emigration for his own province. There 
must be better protection for the settlers, however, and he felt, as 
he had not felt before, the necessity of governmental organization 
and arrangements for the proper administration of law, without 
which the prosperity he desired for his growing communities 
could not be obtained. 

Accordingly, Gorges forthwith proceeded to execute his pur- 
poses. The supreme power in the province he reserved for him- 
self ; but he appointed a permanent council of seven members, by 
whom in his absence the government of the province was to be 
administered, one of whom was designated as deputy governor. 
These appointments were made September 2, 1639, * and a code of 
instructions for the council and other documents were prepared 
and sent hither, all of which were to be read in public at the 
inauguration of the government in order that the people "might 
know how they were to be governed" . Receiving no report of the 
reception of these appointments, instructions, etc., Gorges exe- 
cuted March 10, 1640, 2 similar papers, but somewhat enlarged 
and amended, which became the basis of the government of the 
province. The council as thus constituted comprised the follow- 
ing members : Deputy Governor Thomas Gorges ; 8 Richard Vines 
of Saco ; Henry Josselyn of Black Point ; Francis Champernoun 4 
of Piscataqua ; Richard Bonython of Saco; William Hook 5 of 

1 Williamson, History of Maine, I, 278. 

2 Sullivan, History of the District of Maine, 307. 

3 Thomas Gorges made Agamenticus his residence. In Gorges' first com- 
mission, September 2, 1639 {Farnham Papers, I, 245-248), "Thomas Josse- 
lyn, Knight' ' was made deputy governor. In the commission of March 10, 
1640 {Farnham Papers, I, 248-256), Thomas Gorges was substituted for Thomas 
Josselyn. Baxter, George Cleeve of Casco Bay, Gorges Society, 1885, 85, 
says : "Thomas Gorges was a cousin of Sir Ferdinando and had but just fin- 
ished his studies at Westminster, when he was called to fill the place of Sir 
Thomas Josselyn in the new government' ' . 

4 He was a nephew of Gorges and one of the founders of Piscataqua. 

5 Winthrop (fournal, II, 125) calls him a "godly gent". He left Aga- 
menticus apparently on account of religious sympathy with the Puritans of 



* 



294 the; beginnings op colonial, maine. 

The first was for damages in dispossessing him of his possessions 
at the former place, and the second was for hindrances and annoy- 
ances received after his removal from Spurwink, and securing at 
Machegonne rights which he had enlarged "for a sum of money 
and other considerations", Winter being the occasion of such 
hindrances and annoyances moved thereto ' 'with envy and without 
demand or title pretended". In both of these cases verdicts were 
rendered in Cleeve's favor. 1 In the first case he was awarded 
damages amounting to eighty pounds sterling, also the title to 
four acres of land or thereabouts at Spurwink and the house 
which Cleeve and Tucker had erected thereon. 2 Winter immedi- 
ately requested a stay of judgment 3 in the suits that had been 
decided in favor of Cleeve ; but his request was denied. 

Another case before the court at this time — eighteen civil actions 
and eight complaints in all were entered — was a suit for debt 
amounting to eight pounds and six shillings, brought by John 
Bonython of Saco against Rev. Richard Gibson. The latter, by 
his attorney, Francis Robinson, admitted the rightfulness of the 
claim, and asked that it might "be referred to arbitration". It 
was so ordered. George Cleeve and Arthur Mackworth were 
appointed arbitrators ; and it was agreed that the corn which the 
defendant had growing at Saco "should remain to the plaintiff " 
as his security for the payment of the debt "according to the 
arbitration or otherwise' ' . 

When the marshal proceeded to Richmond's island to levy exe- 
cution against Winter, in accordance with the judgment of the 
court, knowing well the character of the man with whom he had 
to deal, and probably with a knowledge of Winter's declared atti- 
tude with reference to that judgment, he took with him thirty 
men. As he expected, he found Winter prepared to defy the 
marshal and his assistants ; and so stoutly did Winter and the 
hardy fishermen in his employ maintain their appearance of defi- 

1 Early Records of Maine, I. 

2 Trelawny Papers, 235, 236. 

3 lb., 233. 



GORGES RECEIVES A ROYAL CHARTER. 295 

ance that the marshal at length withdrew, and reported his lack 
of success. 1 The deputy governor, enraged at Winter's purpose 
to resist with force a decree of the court, took the matter into his 
own hands ; and not long after, when Winter, on his way to 
Boston, entered the harbor of Agamenticus in a stress of weather, 
the deputy governor sent officers aboard the vessel, who arrested 
Winter and he was required to give bail 2 for his appearance at a 
general court in the following June to answer for his action in 
resisting by force of arms the provost marshal in the performance 
of his sworn duty. He was also required to deliver forthwith to 
Richard Vines, Richard Bonython and Henry Josselyn "so much 
goods as shall amount to eighty pounds sterling, to remain in the 
custody of the court". 3 

When, however, the court convened at Saco, June 25, 1641, 
Winter still in default, appeared with a petition, in which he men- 
tioned the injustice of the verdict of the court as his reason for 
defying the officers in their procedure, claiming that his action 
was "not out of any stubborn, rebellious or unreverent disrespect" 
to the council or its authority, and that he was ' 'ready now and 
always to demean and behave himself in a befitting manner to the 
government here estated with all submission and obedience' ' . He 
also declared that he was "hoping for a future opportunity to 
make his case and aggrievances known more fully' ' both to Gorges 
and the council. 4 

Doubtless since the judgment of the court, Winter had received 
counsel from Trelawny with reference to the further management 
of his court troubles ; and he now reopened the whole matter by 

1 Winter, in his account of the affair, says the marshal and his men "lay 
about the island and about Spurwink two or three days and nights", and 
that he was obliged to keep his own men ' 'ashore a whole week following 
from sea". Trelawny Papers, 253. 

2 lb., 255, 256. 

3 Rev. Robert Jordan, in a letter to Robert Trelawny July 31, 1642, wrote 

that Winter, "thus way-laid did deposit so much beaver as did 

amount to thirty pounds sterling". lb., 315. 

*Ib., 260, 261. 



296 the; beginnings of colonial mains. 

announcing his purpose to attaint the jury on account of its ver- 
dict, asserting, as the ground of this action, that "Captain Thomas 
Cammock, one of the inquest, moved with envy", had stated 
among other things that he did not believe a certain witness of 
Winter's, a statement, he contended, that discredited in the minds 
of the jury the evidence that Winter had presented, "a taint in 
one being a taint in all". 1 

This indictment of the jury of the previous year on a charge 
that in law was an offense against the king, and if allowed would 
transfer further legal consideration of the matter to a tribunal in 
the mother country, must have awakened deep solicitude as well as 
fiery indignation among the parties involved. Evidently the 
members of the jury had rendered a verdict in accordance with 
the evidence presented and their ideas of the requirements of jus- 
tice between man and man. But they knew enough of court pro- 
ceedings to understand how difficult it would be in far-away Eng- 
land to defend themselves with any hope of success, having as an 
opponent one so rich and powerful as Robert Trelawny, assisted 
by skilful lawyers whose services he could easily secure. The 
excitement that followed the reading of the petition can easily be 
imagined. 2 If there were faces that suddenly blanched, it was 
not because of fear of John Winter, but of English court proceed- 
ings such as Bunyan has described for us in his immortal allegory, 
and especially judges against whom these jurymen in coming 
hither had turned their backs, and from whose reach they had 
desired to escape. There was eager, thoughtful consideration. 
Thomas Gorges, the deputy governor, had brought with him a 
volume of English law, and from its pages information was sought 
and reported to anxiously awaiting listeners as extracts were 
read. 3 Of course there was excitement, and even clamor as the 

1 Trelawny Papers, 263. 

2 "The clamor was great. Mr. Gorges on the one side promising to salve 
their reputation, and they on the other side hasty to enter actions of the 
slander, without any more ado, against him." Rev. Robert Jordan, in a 
letter to Robert Trelawny, lb., 318. 

8 "Hereupon Mr. Gorges (how inclined in the cause I may not judge), pre- 



GORGES RECEIVES A ROYAI, CHARTER. 297 

significance of Winter's words in his petition was apprehended ; 
and upon consideration that followed it was wisely suggested by 
some one to endeavor to have the matter settled there and not in 
England. At length an agreement was reached to refer it to four 
arbitrators, 1 with Rev. Stephen Bachiler 2 as umpire ; both Winter 
and Cleeve, under bonds amounting to one thousand pounds, 
agreeing to abide by the decision "for the final ending of all con- 
troversies between them", including an action now brought by 
Winter against Cleeve for defamation of character of Winter's 
wife. 8 It seemed to be a happy solution of a difficult problem. 

Rev. Robert Jordan says that Winter yielded with much unwill- 
ingness ; "yet, seeing which way the wind hanged, any man 
would have shaped such a course, rather than stand to a worse 
hazard". 4 The arbitrators found the jury right in awarding dam- 
ages to Cleeve for the loss of his house and land at Spurwink, but 
they reduced the amount from eighty pounds to sixty. 5 They 
also confirmed Cleeve' s title to Machegonne. With reference to 
Cleeve' s defamation of Winter's wife, they decided that Cleeve 
should "Christianly acknowledge", both to the court and to Mrs. 
Winter, "his failing therein". 6 

This should have closed the controversy. But neither Winter 

tended a great wrong that Mr. Winter should do to the honest jurors; and that 
it was insufferable that men doing their consciences should be so questioned; 
reading an old act in Hen. 8 (as I take it concerning penalty in such cases, 
not considering the mitigation in Q. Eliz.)." Robert Jordan to Trelawny, 
Trelawny Papers, 316, 317. Regarding this penalty, Baxter, lb., 318, makes 
this citation : "Their bodies shall be imprisoned in the common gaol ; their 
wives and children removed out of their houses ; all their houses and lands 
shall be seized with the king's hands and the houses wasted and the trees 
extirpated ; all their goods and chattels forfeited to the king ; they shall 
forever lose the freedom and franchise of the law. ' ' 

1 Trelawny Papers, 319. 

2 For a valuable biographical sketch of Rev. Stephen Bachiler, see Mr. 
Baxter's note 3, lb., 270, 271. 

8 lb., 272. 
4 lb., 319. 
6 lb., 270. 
6 lb., 272. 



298 the; beginnings of colonial maine. 

nor Robert Trelawny was satisfied with the decision. The latter 
was kept fully informed with reference to the case ; and in his 
own interest, as well as to support his agent's contentions, he 
now carried the Cleeve-Winter matter, with related matters, to 
Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Kre long Winter learned from Trelawny 
that the lord proprietor of the province had entertained his appeal 
and stopped all proceedings, listening to Trelawny rather than to 
the deputy governor. Trelawny, however, authorized Winter to 
pay Cleeve twenty pounds for his house and land at Spurwink ; 
but was directed to commence a new suit for land at Machegonne, 
evidently in the expectation that Cleeve would be found a tres- 
passer there. Trelawny closed his letter with these words : ' 'in 
case justice be not done you, send me over a certificate, and I 
shall send a warrant hence from the Parliament to bring them all 
over here to answer it, where I believe they will not justify their 
doings. All things, thanks be to God, goes well in Parliament. 
Many plots and treasons have been discovered. The king is very 
gracious. Hope within very few days we shall settle religion in 
peace and restore the subject to his ancient liberty and right of 
property." x Only one who was blind to political events occurring 
in England at that very time, or saw things with a distorted 
vision, could have written these words. From a royalist point of 
view things were not going well in Parliament. Its members 
sent Strafford, the king's ablest and most faithful supporter, to 
the scaffold, May 12, 1641. His words when he was awaiting 
the execution, "Put not your trust in princes" — Charles having 
promised him that not a hair of his head should be touched and 
finally consigning him to death as a public enemy — expressed his 
estimate of the king. Virtually, Strafford's execution was the 
commencement of the civil war in England, although it was not 
until August 22, 1642, that Charles unfurled his standard at Not- 
tingham and called upon all his loyal subjects to rally around it 
in his and their interest against a rebellious Parliament. In the 
same month in which Strafford was executed, Charles was in con- 

1 Trelawny Papers ', 274. 



GORGES RECEIVES A ROYAE CHARTER. 299 

flict with Parliament, and was brought to an agreement that that 
body should not be dissolved without its own consent. Thick 
and fast fell the blows that were shattering Charles' claim to 
supremacy. "One after another the instruments by which the 
king had been enabled to defy the nation were snatched from his 
hands. Ship-money was declared to be illegal, and tonnage and 
poundage were no more to be levied without parliamentary con- 
sent. An end was put to the star chamber and the high commis- 
sion". 1 All of these great changes in matters of high concern in 
England at that time were accomplished before July, 1641 ; and 
it is difficult to discover any warrant whatever for the confidence 
Trelawny expressed in his letter to Winter. Not days, but years, 
must elapse before religion in England would be settled in peace, 
and the subject restored to his ancient liberty. 

1 S. R. Gardiner, The Puritan Revolution, 118, 119. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Some Unrelated Matters. 

REV. RICHARD GIBSON remained at Richmond's island 
until his contract with Robert Trelawny for three years' 
service expired. Concerning him Winter wrote to Tre- 
lawny soon after Mr. Gibson's arrival: "Our minister is a very 
fair condition man and one that doth keep himself in very good 
order, and instructs our people well, if please God to give us 
the grace to follow his instruction." 1 Sometime later, however, 
Winter's attitude toward Mr. Gibson changed, and his ministry 
at the island and vicinity henceforth was by no means a happy 
one. Ill and even slanderous reports concerning him at length 
reached Plymouth, England. Mr. Gibson alludes to them in a 
letter to Robert Trelawny dated June 11, 1638. Their source is 
not stated, but without difficulty it may be inferred. Having 
mentioned the willingness of the people of Richmond's island and 
vicinity to increase out of their wages his allowance from Tre- 
lawny by twenty-five pounds a year — one-half of the amount he 
received from Trelawny — Mr. Gibson says Winter opposed it, 
"because he was not so sought unto", that is, consulted or solic- 
ited, as he expected. 2 It is in this connection that Mr. Gibson 
refers to these defamatory reports. There were no such reports 
at the island, he affirms, "and have not been" ; and he continues, 
"it is not in my power what other men think or speak of me, yet 
it is in my power by God's grace so to live as an honest man and 
a minister and so as no man shall speak evil of me but by slander- 
ing, nor think amiss but by too much credulity, nor yet aggrieve 
me much by any abuse". Trelawny even, to whom Mr. Gibson 

1 Trelawny Papers, 86, 87. 

2 lb., 127. 



SOME UNRELATED MATTERS. 301 

had written concerning these reports, seems to have been influ- 
enced by them ; and Mr. Gibson appeals to him to seek other tes- 
timony than that he had furnished, adding, "You may, if you 
please, hear of them that have been here or come from hence, if 
they have known or heard of any such drinking as you talk of. 
I had rather be under ground than discredit 1 either your people 
or plantation, as you, believing idle people, suppose I do. If you 
have any jealousy 2 this way (so doubtfully you write), I think it 
best you hold off and proceed no further with me either in land 
or service". 8 

It is altogether probable that Mr. Gibson's marriage to a daugh- 
ter of Thomas I,ewis of Saco was not regarded with favor at 
Richmond's island, where Winter had a daughter, who subse- 
quently became the wife of Rev. Robert Jordan. Gibson makes 
mention of his marriage in a letter to Governor Winthrop dated 
January 14, 1639, in which he designates it "as a fit means for 
closing of differences and setting in order both for religion and 
government in these plantations' ' . But it did not have that effect. 
At length the way opened for Mr. Gibson to go to Piscataqua, 
whither, in the summer of 1636, some of the men in the employ 
of Winter, so dissatisfied with him that they "fell into a mutiny", 
had made their way purposing "to fish for themselves". 4 One of 
these men, mentioned at the time by Winter as "the leader of 
them all", was one of the parishioners, who "founded and built" 
at Piscataqua the parsonage house, chapel, with the appurtenances, 
at their own proper costs and charges", and "made choice of Mr. 
Richard Gibson to be the first parson of the said parsonage". 5 

Mention of Mr. Gibson's approaching removal is made in a let- 
ter written at Richmond's island, July 8, 1639, by Stephen Sar- 

1 Disgrace. 

2 Doubt or question. 

3 Trelawny Papers, 129. 

4 lb., 93. 

5 In a note {Trelawny Papers, 93) Mr. Baxter has an interesting account of 
these men after they left Winter's service. He says they all probably went 
to Piscataqua (Portsmouth) and became citizens of good repute. 



302 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

gent, in Trelawny's employ under Winter, and addressed to Tre- 
lawny. Mr. Gibson, he wrote, "is going to Piscataqua to live, 
the which we are all sorry, and should be glad if that we might 
enjoy his company longer". 1 In any such expression of appreci- 
ation Winter had no share. All that he said to Trelawny con- 
cerning the matter is in a letter written two days later: "Mr. 
Gibson is going from us ; he is to go to Piscataway to be their 
minister, and they give him sixty pounds per year, and build him 
a house and clear him some ground and prepare it for him against 
he come' ' . 2 Mr. Gibson himself, writing on the same day as Mr. 
Sargent, and also to Mr. Trelawny, used these words : "For the 
continuance of my service at the island, it is that which I have 
much desired, and upon your consent thereunto I have settled 
myself into the country, and expended my estate in dependence 
thereupon ; and now I see Mr. Winter doth not desire it, nor 

hath not ever desired it, but hath entertained me very 

coarsely and with much discourtesy, so that I am forced to remove 

to Piscataway for maintenance to my great hindrance 

I shall not go from these parts till Michaelmas, till which time I 
have offered my service to Mr. Winter as formerly, if he please, 
which whether he will accept or no I know not ; he maketh diffi- 
culty and suspendeth his consent thereunto as yet". 3 Folsom 4 
places the date of Mr. Gibson's removal to Piscataqua "at the 
close of 1640, or early in the following year". Inasmuch, how- 

1 Trelawny Papers, 158. 

2 lb., 170. 

8 lb., 160. Mr. Gibson remained at Piscataqua holding church services 
there, and at the Isles of Shoals, until 1642, when ' 'being wholly addicted 
to the hierarchy and discipline of England", he was brought before the court 
at Boston on a charge of marrying and baptizing at the Isles of Shoals, the 
southern half of the islands being at that time under the jurisdiction of 
Massachusetts. He was also charged with disrespect to the authority of the 
Bay colony, and committed to jail. Having "made a full acknowledgment 
of all he was charged with and the evil thereof, as he was a stranger and was 
to depart the country in a few days, he was discharged without any fine or 
other punishment". Winthrop, Journal, 2, 66. 

4 History of Sac o. 



SOME UNRELATED MATTERS. 303 

ever, as lie was paid by Winter "for six weeks' service after his 
three years expired", 1 and he came to this country with Winter, 
reaching Richmond's island May 24, 1636, as is supposed, it 
would seem as if his departure from that place is likely to have 
occurred in the latter part of the summer of 1639. Between that 
time and Michaelmas he may have tarried with friends at Saco, 
the home of his father-in-law. 

Concerning the settlements between the Presumpscot and the 
Kennebec immediately after Thomas Purchase established his 
fishing interests at Pejepscot, there is little information. Unques- 
tionably a proprietor so capable and energetic as Purchase drew 
to the banks of the Androscoggin other settlers, who were con- 
nected in one way or another with his varied business operations. 
Doubtless others, too, there were, who at different points in this 
part of the Province of Maine established homes for themselves 
and commenced the task of subduing the wilderness in the effort 
to obtain such a living as the country at that time afforded. But 
the lack of a firm, settled government in the territory was easily 
discoverable. The brief administration of provincial affairs at 
Saco by Governor William Gorges extended but a little way, and 
soon came to an end. As settlers in larger numbers, however, 
came hither from England, and especially as the Massachusetts 
bay colonies in a little while developed prosperous communities 
under governmental regulations that were effectual in securing law 
and order, there was naturally in the Province of Maine an 
increasingly wider recognition of the value and necessity of such 
regulations, and a growing demand for their speedy establishment. 

One of those who recognized the need of like regulations, 
because of existing conditions in the Province of Maine, was 
Thomas Purchase of Pejepscot. For aid in improving these con- 
ditions in so far as his own proprietary interests extended, he 
now turned toward the Province of Massachusetts Bay ; and in the 
negotiations that followed, Massachusetts through him acquired 
her first right of jurisdiction within the limits of Sir Ferdinando 

1 Trelawny Papers ; 299. 



304 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

Gorges' original grant. Doubtless from an early period after his 
arrival in the country, Purchase was recognized as a man of 
importance not only within the limits of his own domain, but 
throughout the province. As has already been mentioned, Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges, in 1636, made him a member of his court of 
commissioners under Governor William Gorges. He may also 
have been one of the commissioners including Winthrop, Cleeve 
and others whose names are not now known, whom Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges, after the return of Governor William Gorges to England 
early in 1637, appointed to govern his colony of New Somerset- 
shire in accordance with a scheme of Gorges which, Winthrop 
says "was passed in silence" and which he designates "as a mat- 
ter of no good discretion". 1 At all events, in the failure of 
Gorges to establish within his jurisdiction such an administration 
of civil government as was necessary for the proper protection of 
life and property, Purchase deemed it imperative to make an effort 
in some direction, and he made his appeal to the governor of the 
colony of Massachusetts bay. Winthrop evidently listened sym- 
pathetically to a description of conditions among the settlers along 
the Androscoggin river, and as a result of the interview, by an 
indenture executed August 22, 1639, Purchase conveyed "to John 
Winthrop and his successors, the governor and company of the 

Massachusetts forever, all that tract of land at Pejepscot 

upon both sides of the river of Androscoggin, being four miles 
square towards the sea, with all liberties and privileges thereunto 
belonging". The right to plant there "an English colony" was 
included in the rights conveyed, as also "full power forever to 
exercise jurisdiction there as they have in the Massachusetts" ; 
while Purchase, his heirs and assignees, together with all other 
inhabitants within the limits of the Pejepscot grant, were to be 
given that "due protection of the said governor and company" as 
was enjoyed by the inhabitants of the Bay colony. 2 

1 Journal, 1, 276. 

2 Farnham Papers, I, 243, 244. The original deed in connection with this 
transaction was entered in the "Records of the Governor and Company of 



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yo*o~nd bJ^&jP^^^^^&^j „V^fty'0f> d^j-^o^X^ 
John Winter to Robert Trklawny, August 2, 1641. 



SOME UNRELATED MATTERS. 305 

Massachusetts, however, made no effort to assume the obliga- 
tions set forth in this agreement. Sir Ferdinando Gorges' com- 
mission to Sir Thomas Josselyn and his councilors "for the gov- 
ernment of the Province of Maine according to his ordinances", 
issued September 2, 1639 x — only eleven days after this convey- 
ance of land at Pejepscot,— indicated a purpose on the part of Sir 
Ferdinando to meet within his territorial limits the need Purchase 
and others so strongly felt ; and the colony of Massachusetts bay 
wisely determined to hold matters in abeyance awhile and await 
the development of movements already in progress. 

Rev. Richard Gibson's place at Richmond's island was filled by 
the coming thither of Rev. Robert Jordan, a kinsman of Thomas 
Purchase, with whom Mr. Jordan had lived at Pejepscot about 
two years. Winter made mention of him in a letter to Trelawny 
dated August 2, 1641. 2 "Here is one Mr. Robert Jordan, a min- 
ister, which hath been with us this three months, which is a very 
honest religious man by anything as yet I can find in him. I 
have not yet agreed with him for staying here, but did refer it till 
I did hear some word from you. We were long without a minis- 
ter, and were in but a bad way, and so we shall be still if we have 
not the word of God taught unto us sometimes". In these last 
words there is doubtless a reference to the fact mentioned by Win- 
ter that negotiations had already been commenced with settlers at 
Pemaquid indicating a desire on the part at least of some of them 
to secure Mr. Jordan's services one-half of the year, Richmond's 
island to have them the other half, "i know not how we shall 
accord upon it as yet", adds Winter; but an agreement was not 
reached, and Mr. Jordan remained at Richmond's island, identify- 
ing himself prominently with matters there and in the vicinity. 
A student at Baliol College, Oxford, and a graduate of the Uni- 

the Massachusetts Bay in New England", and is found in the printed "Rec- 
ords", I, 272, 273. There is an early manuscript copy in the possession of 
the Maine Historical Society, Pejepscot Papers, VII, 489. 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 245. 

2 lb., 288. 

20 



306 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

versity of Oxford, 1 he became a clergyman of the Church of Eng- 
land and doubtless had held religious services at Pejepscot during 
his residence there. Not long after his removal to Richmond's 
island he married John Winter's daughter Sarah, and by his 
endowments, education and wide interest in provincial matters 
long occupied a place of large influence. 2 

The above reference to negotiations having in view the estab- 
lishment of religious services at Pemaquid, under the direction of 
Rev. Robert Jordan, is the only recorded fact concerning such 
services in English settlements east of the Kennebec throughout 
the whole period under review in this volume, except in connec- 
tion with the Popham colonists at St. George's harbor at the time 
of their arrival on the coast. Such services undoubtedly were 
held in private and probably in public assemblies increasingly as 
the settlements enlarged ; but there was no ordained minister in 
those parts, and none came hither for a long time afterward. 

On the death of Robert Aldworth of Bristol, England, which 
occurred in 1634, Giles Elbridge, Aldworth' s co -partner in the 
Pemaquid patent, became his heir and the executor of his will. 
His, now, were the large business interests at Pemaquid, where 
Abraham Shurt had his residence and acted as his agent. With 
Giles Elbridge' s death, which occurred February 4, 1644, the 
Pemaquid patent came into the possession of his oldest son John, 
who by his last will and testament, dated September 11, 1646, 
bequeathed the patent to his brother, Thomas Elbridge, 3 second 
son of Giles, who not long after, probably having settled his 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 269. 

2 Mr. Baxter (Tre lawny Papers, 270) says concerning Robert Jordan : "He 
was a man of ability and under other conditions might have perhaps ranked 
among the leading divines of the New World; but at this time the church for 
which he labored found an unkindly soil in New England, and would not 
take root toiled the husbandman never so faithfully. Hence discouraged by 
opposition, and the word within him perhaps becoming choked by the deceit- 
fulness of riches, he finally gave up the ministry and devoted himself to his 
private affairs. " 

3 Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 77, 78, 96, 112, 465, has inter- 
esting references to Thomas Elbridge. 



SOME UNRELATED MATTERS. 307 

affairs in England, and perhaps on account of the continued dis- 
turbed state of the country, made his way to Pemaquid and took 
possession of his inheritance. The time of his arrival is not 
known. Johnston considers it probable that he came about 1647 ; 
but as he was appointed executor to the will of his brother, it 
could not have been earlier and probably it was somewhat later. 
He was here certainly in 1650, for November 5, in that year, he 
mortgaged the islands of Monhegan and Damariscove to Richard 
Russell of Charlestown, Mass., by a deed in which he described 
himself as "Thomas Elbridge of Pemaquid in New England, mer- 
chant". 1 He is represented as a man of small stature and insig- 
nificant appearance", 2 and it is evident that he possessed little, if 
any, ability for the management of his Pemaquid estate. Appar- 
ently he made no attempt whatever to improve conditions, moral 
or religious, among the settlers at Pemaquid, or in any part of his 
large land possessions. Although he "called a court, unto which 
divers of the then inhabitants" 3 repaired, it was not an institution 
of civil government, but merely a proprietary office for the collec- 
tion of rents and the conveyance of rights and privileges. His 
business transactions evidently were not large. While his oppor- 
tunities for exerting helpful, beneficent influences in all parts of 
his domain were wide, he seems to have been lacking in those 
qualities that would have enabled him to grasp and use them ; and 
easily and speedily he allowed his extensive inherited lands to 
pass into other hands, 4 and himself at length to drop out of sight. 
In 1659, he was either plaintiff or defendant in several cases at a 

1 Water's Genealogical Gleanings in England, I, 635, says the deed was 
to Shurt. 

2 Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 78. 

3 lb., 465. 

4 February 5, 1652, Thomas Elbridge sold one-half of the patent to Paul 
White, who in May, 1653, conveyed it to Richard Russell and Nicholas 
Davison of Charlestown, Mass. Still another change in the ownership of 
the patent occurred in July, 1657, when Russell sold his quarter to Davison; 
while Elbridge, about two months later, sold the half he had retained to 
Davison, who now became the sole possessor of the Pemaquid patent. 
Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 465. 



308 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

court held at York, 1 and in 1672, his name appears with other 
residents at Pemaquid on a petition to the general court in Boston 
to be taken under its government and protection. 2 With this 
record he passes from our view. The names of other children of 
Giles Elbridge are found on the elaborate Elbridge monument in 
St. Peter's church in Bristol, England, but the name of Thomas 
Elbridge is not there, and the time and place of his death are 
unknown. 

Fishing and traffic with the Indians continued to be the chief 
business of the colonists on the Maine coast. But as the political 
troubles in England affected more and more all industrial and 
commercial affairs, the supplies which the settlers had been accus- 
tomed to receive from that source began to fail. Winter, writing 
July 19, 1642, not only records a scarcity of money at Richmond's 
island, but adds, "cloth of all sorts very scarce; both linen and 
woolen are dear". 8 It is significant with reference to this scarcity 
of money in the province that at this time Deputy Governor 
Thomas Gorges and Richard Vines made their way to the White 
Mountains, 4 passing through Pegwackit, in search of "precious 
metalic substances", a lure that had exploited the coast regions 
from the first arrival of explorers and colonists, but which now 
led Gorges and Vines into the distant recesses of the White Moun- 
tain range, glimpses of whose fair outlines are afforded here and 
there from places along the coast in the vicinity of Saco. Thither 
they made their way safely, but their prospecting for gold and 
silver was without success. Their toil, however, could not have 
failed of rich reward in the experiences of the journey connected 
with what they saw of the beauty of the valley of the Saco as they 
traveled toward the river's source, and of the glory of the White 
Mountain scenery that still, with each recurring season, irresist- 
ably attracts visitors from near and far. 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 176-179. 

2 Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 112. 
8 Tre lawny Papers, 321. 

4 Winthrop, Journal, 266. 



some; unrelated matters. 309 

The settlement at Wells, which occurred during the deputy- 
governorship of Thomas Gorges, is traceable to the action of the 
Massachusetts authorities with reference to theological differences. 
Rev. John Wheelwright, a brother-in-law of the celebrated Anne 
Hutchinson, had made his way from England to New England in 
the great emigration that followed the establishment of the Bay 
colony. Williamson refers to him 1 as a "pious and learned" 
preacher ; but apparently he was in sympathy with Mrs. Hutchin- 
son's peculiar theological views, at least to some extent. Among 
other opinions he is said to have held that "the Holy Spirit dwells 
personally in a justified convert, and that sanctification can in no 
wise evince to believers their justifications". It was a period of 
theological speculation as well as of Bible study, and uniformity 
in religious matters was regarded by the general court of Massa- 
chusetts as desirable as it was by Archbishop Laud and the eccle- 
siastical courts in England. But Mr. Wheelwright, in making 
his way across the sea because of oppressive, intolerable condi- 
tions in religious matters, expected to find at least toleration if 
not liberty. He soon learned, however, that he was mistaken ; 
and having been called to account by the general court for his 
theological opinions, and being "extremely pertinacious" of them, 
he was sentenced by the court November 2, 1637, to banishment 
from the colony. 2 

Mr. Wheelwright accordingly removed to Exeter, in the Prov- 
ince of New Hampshire, where he established a church to which 
he ministered until by the political union of New Hampshire with 
the Province of Massachusetts Bay, he found that again he was 
within the reach of the Bay authorities. Then, in search of 
another refuge, he turned his footsteps toward the Province of 
Maine ; and April 17, 1642, Deputy Governor Thomas Gorges, out 
of the grant he had received from his uncle, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 
conveyed to him "a tract of land lying at Wells in the county 
of Somerset' ' , in all about four or five hundred acres of land on or 

1 History of Maine, I, 293. 

2 Records of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, I, 207. 



310 the beginnings of colonial maine. 

near the Ogunquit river, and along the seashore. Another tract 
of land, also conveyed by Gorges and in the same year, was 
secured by John Wheelwright, Henry Bond and others, greatly 
enlarging the territory of which Mr. Wheelwright had obtained 
possession, and constituting the township of Wells. 1 

Here Mr. Wheelwright established a church. But his theologi- 
cal opinions still removed him from the fellowship of other minis- 
ters and Christian people, who had been his early friends, and 
whom he still held in high esteem ; and in December, 1643, he 
addressed a communication to the governor and assistants of the 
colony of Massachusetts bay, in which he made confession that in 
the matter of justification his differences had been magnified by 
the "glass of Satan's temptations", and distorted by his own 
imaginations. In this way, his differences had secured an impor- 
tance in his thinking that was unwarranted. "I am unfeignedly 
sorry", he wrote, "I took so great a part in those sharp and 
vehement contentions, by which the churches have been dis- 
turbed ; and it repents me that I gave encouragement to men of 
corrupt sentiments, or to their errors, and I humbly crave par- 
don". 2 The communication, because of its frankness and the 
excellent spirit that characterized it throughout, made a very 
favorable impression upon those to whom it was addressed ; and 
Mr. Wheelwright not only was given a safe conduct to Boston, 
but in the summer of 1644, that action was followed by the revo- 
cation of the sentence of banishment. 3 At a later period he made 
his way back to England, where he remained a few years during 
the Puritan rule, possessing, it is said, the friendship of Crom- 
well, and then returned to New England.* 

1 Sullivan, History of the District of Maine, 408. 

2 Winthrop, Journal, J. K. Hostner's Ed., II, 165-167. 

3 Records of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, II, 
67 ; III, 6. 

4 Williamson, History of Maine, I, 294. On his return, Mr. Wheelwright 
settled in Salisbury, Mass., where, according to Williamson (I, 293), he died 
in 1679, aged 80 years. Sullivan (History of the District of Maine, 234) 
says he died in 1680. 



SOME UNRELATED MATTERS. 311 

Matters connected with the settlement of Wells were among the 
last that received the attention of Thomas Gorges in his wise 
administration of the affairs of his uncle's province. That admin- 
istration was now drawing to a close. Unlike his uncle, the dep- 
uty governor was in sympathy with Parliament, rather than with 
Charles, in the breach between the king and the House of Com- 
mons ; and as things in England while he was here had gone from 
bad to worse, and the civil war had opened, in which was to be 
decided the great issue as to which of the contending parties 
should rule England, Thomas Gorges regarded his place of duty 
there and not here ; and he began to make preparations to leave 
the province and return home. 

From the first, his management of affairs as deputy governor 
strongly commended him to all those who longed for the estab- 
lishment of law and order in the Province of Maine. At Agamen- 
ticus, which he made his place of residence at the time of his 
arrival, he at once had his attention called to a scandal that, in his 
treatment of it, illustrated in a most striking manner Gorges' 
administrative ideals as well as the low condition of the morals 
of the community. The affair required boldness, as well as firm- 
ness, in its proper handling. The man involved, Rev. George 
Burdett, was a prominent resident at Agamenticus, yet was known 
to be grossly immoral in life and had assumed an attitude of 
brazen defiance to just requirements, human and divine. Wil- 
liamson says, "Pride and abilities had given him self-confidence 
and obstinacy, and he regarded no law otherwise than to wrest 
it and make it sanction or excuse his iniquities' ' . 1 On being made 
acquainted with the facts in the case, Thomas Gorges at once 
ordered Burdett 's arrest, and he was promptly brought before the 
court instituted by Gorges at Saco. The accused was found guilty 
not only of immoralities, but of "slanderous speeches", and 

1 History of Maine, I, 284. Baxter (Trelawny Papers, 249) says of Bur- 
dett, ' 'Instead of leading his flock into paths of righteousness, he proved 
to be a wolf among them, and the records of his misdeeds stain the pages of 
history." 



312 the; beginnings op colonial maine. 

received sentence accordingly. Evidently Burdett had expected 
to manage matters at the court as he had at Agamenticus ; but as 
he was adjudged guilty, he appealed from the decision in an out- 
burst of indignation, claiming the right of a rehearing in England. 
The charter of the province, however, contained no provision for 
such a rehearing ; and the deputy governor, denying the appeal, 
ordered execution to be levied on the property of Burdett for the 
payment of the fines imposed when sentence was pronounced. 
Railing against the deputy governor and the court, Burdett 
returned to Agamenticus and soon after made his way to England, 
threatening a reopening of court proceedings there. Failing in 
this, he joined one of the two great parties in the conflict then 
raging in the kingdom, and while thus engaged, falling into the 
hands of the party to which he was opposed, he was thrown into 
prison, and while there he passed into such obscurity that his 
subsequent career is unknown. 1 

With the same firm adherence to high moral standards, Thomas 
Gorges conducted the affairs of the Province of Maine throughout 
his administration. From first to last he had the respect of all 
law-abiding citizens, and his manifest aim in the management of 
public interests was to proceed along the same lines that were so 
strictly followed in the administration of the government of the 
affairs of the Bay colony by Governor Winthrop, whom Gorges 
visited upon his arrival in New England, and from whom he 
wisely sought counsel and advice. The three years he spent here, 
from 1640 to 1643, were passed in a way not only exceedingly 
creditable to himself, but helpful to the settlers in their desires to 
secure better conditions ; and his name deserves to be accorded 
high honor for the services he rendered at an important period in 
the beginnings of colonial Maine. It is not too much to say of 
Thomas Gorges that his was by far the one conspicuously attrac- 
tive personality in the province in all its early history. 2 

1 Hubbard, New England, 361. Winthrop, Journal, 207. 

2 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 186-190. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Agamenticus Becomes Gorgeana. 

BY this time things had come to such a pass in England that 
one must choose between the supremacy of Charles and 
the supremacy of "Parliament. The question at issue was 
whether the King or the House of Commons was the strongest 
power in the realm. 1 Certainly things were not going well with 
those who supported the crown. Strafford had already been 
brought to the block as an enemy of the country. Archbishop 
I^aud, who mingled ecclesiastical matters with those of the state, 
and had given great offence in so doing, was behind prison bars 
as early as 1641. In the opening of 1642, the king, unable to dis- 
cover the real significance of the great uprising against his arbi- 
trary rule, had separated himself still farther from his opponents 
in Parliament by demanding the impeachment of Iyord Kembolton, 
in the House of I,ords, and Pym, Hampden and three others in 
the House of Commons. When the Commons returned an evasive 
answer to this demand, Charles, followed by a crowd of armed 
retainers, proceeded to the House. As he stepped to the speaker's 
chair he addressed the Commons, saying that he had come to 
fetch the traitors. The words eliciting no response, the king, 
looking over the House and failing to discover any of the five 
whom he had named in his demand, turned to the speaker and 
asked if the men he sought were present. "May it please your 
majesty", replied L,enthall, "I have neither eyes to see nor tongue 
to speak in this place, but as the House is pleased to direct me' ' . 

1 S. R. Gardiner, The Puritan Revolution, 118. Concerning trie attitude 
of the members of the House of Commons toward the king, Gardiner says : 
"It is useless to ask whether they might not have regulated the king's 
authority instead of shattering it. It was its business to shatter it because, 
with Charles upon the throne, it was impossible to regulate it." 



314 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

The king, again using his own eyes, remarked, "I see that all my 
birds have flown". He then renewed his demand, saying that if 
the men he had named were not surrendered to him upon their 
return, he would be obliged to take his own course to find them. 
As the king left the House, shouts of "Privilege! privilege!" fol- 
lowed him. 

Echoes of this parliamentary struggle soon reached every part 
of the kingdom, and the lines of the two great parties contending 
for the mastery were now still more closely drawn. The affairs 
of the nation weighed heavily on all hearts, and Gorges, unable to 
throw himself into the conflict on account of advancing years, 
sought relief by directing his thoughts toward his Province of 
Maine. Reference has already been made to a grant of land on 
the ' 'west most side' ' of the Agamenticus river made December 
2, 1631, by the council for New England to Ferdinando Gorges, 
Sir Ferdinando 's grandson and heir ; and also to a grant on the 
east side of the river made at the same time to Lieutenant Colonel 
Francis Norton and others. 1 In his Briefe Narration, Gorges, 
referring to these grants, says his grandson Ferdinando and some 
of his associates hastened to take possession of their territories, 
carrying with them their families and necessary provisions ; ' 'and 
I sent over for my son [grandson] my nephew, Captain William 
Gorges, who had been my lieutenant in the fort at Plymouth, 
with some other craftsmen for the building of houses and erecting 
of saw mills ; and by other shipping from Bristol, some cattle with 
other servants, by which the foundation of the plantation was 
laid, and I was the more hopeful of the happy success thereof, for 
that I had not far, from that place Richard Vines, a gentleman 
and servant of my own, who was settled there some years before. ' ' 

Gorges' statement is a general one covering a number of years. 
Captain William Gorges came hither as governor of New Somer- 
setshire probably in the spring of 1636, and therefore several years 
after the Agamenticus grant was made. If at any time during his 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 159-161. Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 57. 

2 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 58. 



AGAMENTICUS BECOMES GORGKANA. 315 

governorship he made his residence at Agamenticus, there is no 
record of the fact. He established his government at Saco, and 
apparently he resided there during the short time he remained in 
the province. But Sir Ferdinando had not lost sight of his name- 
sake's grant. As early as 1630, Edward Godfrey was living at 
Agamenticus. It is possible that Godfrey went there in accord- 
ance with an arrangement made with Gorges before he left Eng- 
land. At all events, his first appearance in this country was as 
the "lawful attorney" of the council for New England in trans- 
ferring to Gorges and Mason the grant made to them November 
17, 1629, and known as the L,aconia patent. Godfrey served the 
grantees for a short time at Piscataqua in connection with their 
fishing interests, but with broader aims in view he soon took up 
his residence at Agamenticus, "being the first that ever built or 
settled there' ' - 1 

Another indication of Sir Ferdinando 's acquaintance with God- 
frey, and of the favorable opinion he held concerning him, is 
found in the fact that when, in 1634, Gorges and Mason made a 
division of the lands they had received from the council for New 
England in 1622, Godfrey acted as one of the referees. Also, 
when Sir Ferdinando organized the government of his province in 
1636, with William Gorges at its head, Edward Godfrey of Aga- 
menticus received an appointment as a member of the court of 
commissioners, and took his seat with his associates at the open- 
ing of the court March 21, 1636, in the house of Richard Bony- 
thon of Saco. In a letter to Winthrop under date of January 
25, 1640, Richard Vines wrote: "Three or four years since, Mr. 
Cleeve, being in England, procured a writ out of the star chamber 
office to command Mr. Edward Godfrey, Mr. John Winter, Mr. 
Purchase and myself to appear at the council table to answer some 
supposed wrongs". It is known that Godfrey proceeded to Eng- 
land in answer to the summons, and made a successful defence 
against the charges Cleeve had preferred. Probably this was in 
the year 1637. Godfrey remained in England, it is supposed, a 

1 Me. Hist. Society's Coll., First Series, IX, 344. 



316 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

year or more. 1 A part of his time, he says, was employed in an 
endeavor ' 'to provide a patent from the council for New England 
for himself and partners, the south side to Ferdinando Gorges 
and only the north side to himself and divers others his asso- 
ciates". 2 This was the tract of land granted by the great council 
December 2, 1631, to Ferdinando Gorges (grandson and heir of 
Sir Ferdinando), Walter Norton and others. Vines, in his state- 
ment with reference to the matter, says that he was obliged to take 
this course with reference to the patent "by oppression of Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges" . 8 What is meant by the word ' 'oppression' ' 
is not indicated. It may be that the right to that part of the tract 
of land granted to Norton and others had lapsed, partly because 
of failure to fulfil prescribed conditions with reference to settle- 
ment which became the occasion of disagreements with Gorges, 
or partly because of claims against those who had settled upon 
these lands and were not legally in possession of them. As there 
was a renewal of the grant to Edward Godfrey and others March 
22, 1639, 4 the matter seems to have been adjusted amicably, and if 
there had been differences between Godfrey and Gorges previous 
to this visit they were now forever settled. From that time on 
Gorges in various ways manifested high regard for Godfrey and 
gave him appointments to positions of honor and influence. 

While Godfrey was in England at this time he performed a serv- 
ice that could not have been otherwise than helpful to the colony 
of Massachusetts bay. This service was in connection with Quo 
Warranto proceedings brought in England against the Bay colony 
by Sir John Banks as attorney general, the charge being that the 
colony, without any warrant or royal grant, had usurped certain 
' 'liberties, privileges and franchises' ' . 5 During these proceedings, 
when the agents and friends of the Puritan colony were "called 

1 Me. Hist. Society's Coll., First Series, IX, 310. 

2 lb., IX, 344. 

3 IX, 344. 

4 Farnham Papers, I, 159. 

6 Hazard, Historical Collections, I, 423, 424. 



AGAMENTICUS BECOMES GORGEANA. 317 

on to confront a peremptory demand from the lords commission- 
ers in England for the surrender of the Massachusetts charter, 
coupled with the threat of sending over a new governor general 
from England", and these agents and friends of the colony "stood 
mute", 1 Godfrey, who was present, rose and made an effective 
plea in their behalf. Apparently this service was not estimated 
by the Massachusetts colonists at its real value. At least, Win- 
throp and his associates preferred to attribute their deliverance in 
such a crisis to the fact that "it pleased God so to order in his 
good Providence". 2 

An important result of Godfrey's interviews with Sir Eerdi- 
nando Gorges at this time is discoverable in the latter 's thoughts 
and plans with reference to his Province of Maine. Eirst of all, 
Gorges turned his attention to measures for securing "the better 
government and welfare of the inhabitants" of his province, a need 
which doubtless Godfrey had not failed to impress upon him. 

But especially at this time were Gorges' thoughts and plans 
directed toward Agamenticus. In all probability it was not with- 
out his suggestion, inspired by Godfrey, that Thomas Gorges, in 
coming hither and taking up his duties as deputy governor, 
decided to make his residence there. Agamenticus as yet was a 
small community, and the character of its inhabitants, as indicated 
in court records, was not of the best ; but by making Agamenticus 
the seat of the provincial government, and with adequate provi- 
sions for securing a firm and just administration of law, better 
conditions, it was believed, would inevitably follow with the 
result that Agamenticus would soon develop into a large and 
prosperous community. 

In thus making Agamenticus the center of his thoughts in his 
colonial undertakings, Sir Eerdinando first of all sought to confer 
distinction upon the place by elevating it into a borough. This 
was done by a charter 3 signed and sealed April 10, 1641. With 

1 Gardiner* New England's Vindication, 5. Hazard, Historical Collec- 
tions, I, 564. 

2 Winthrop, I, 161. 

3 Hazard, I, 470-474. 



318 THE BEGINNINGS OP COEONIAE MAINE. 

characteristic regard for his official relation to the ''humble suit- 
ors" who had asked for the incorporation of Agamenticus, Gorges, 
in the charter, referred to himself not only as "Lord of the Prov- 
ince of Maine", but as "Lord of the Province of Maine within 
the territories of New England", calling attention in this way to 
that wider field over which the king had made him governor gen- 
eral, and toward which his colonial dreams at this time seem very 
frequently to have attracted his thoughts. 

The charter, in its unfoldings, conferred upon "his majesty's 
liege people" at Agamenticus the right to exercise civil govern- 
ment among themselves, freed from the jurisdiction and authority 
of any other officer or officers whatsoever, unless called upon as 
assistants in repelling armed invasion or in suppressing rebellion 
against the due course of justice. In the charter, provision was 
made for the election of a mayor, eight aldermen and a recorder 
by the voices of the burgesses ; but in order to assist in the organi- 
zation of the new government Gorges proceeded to nominate in 
the charter, as the first mayor of the borough, his "well-beloved 
cousin", Thomas Gorges, the deputy governor of the province. 
As the first eight aldermen, he nominated Edward Godfrey, 
Roger Garde, George Puddington, Bartholomew Barnett, Edward 
Johnson, Arthur Bragington, Henry Simson and John Rogers. 
Edward Godfrey was also nominated as justice of the peace for the 
first year and Roger Garde as the first recorder. 

The mayor and aldermen were authorized by the charter to 
make such laws, orders and ordinances as were "accustomed to 
be made in towns corporate in England", and they were to exe- 
cute the same for the benefit of the inhabitants of the borough and 
the peaceable ordering of the business of the corporation. They 
had power also to make as many free burgesses as they should 
' 'think fit' ' , and also to disfranchise any for just and reasonable 
cause. Provision, also, was made for "one town hall", which 
should also serve for court uses in hearing and determining civil 
cases. There were to be court sessions also for the "dispatch of 
criminal causes" by indictment and trial before jurors, provided, 



AGAMENTICUS BECOMES GOKGEANA. 319 

however, that no proceeding in such causes should be contrary to 
the laws of England, nor for offences committed outside of the 
limits of the borough. 

To the mayor was given authority to muster men and levy arms 
for defence of the borough in case of hostile invasion, and to 
appoint and commission such officers as should be found neces- 
sary ; also to erect fortifications and provide armaments for the 
same. 

In granting to Agamenticus such extraordinary powers and 
privileges it was evidently the design of Gorges to give the place 
a prominence that would attract to it additional settlers, and at 
the same time make it a fitting location for the residence of the 
deputy governor of the province. For awhile the scheme thus 
outlined occupied Sir Ferdinando's thoughts and gave him pleas- 
ing occupation ; but other dreams followed and the scheme was 
enlarged to such an extent that March 1, 1642, only one year 
later, Gorges gave to Agamenticus a second and more elaborate 
charter, 1 transforming the borough into a city, and bestowing 
upon it the designation Gorgeana. Flattering himself with the 
assertion that he had settled the Province of Maine in a helpful 
way of government, Sir Ferdinando now announced his purpose 
by all good means to further and advance the same ; and he 
increased the borough limits, extending them "from the begin- 
ning of the entrance in of the river commonly called and known 
by the name of Agamenticus and so up the said river seven 
English miles and all along the east, and northeast side of the 
seashore three English miles in breadth from the entrance of the 
said river and up into the main land seven miles, butting with the 
seven miles from the seaside up the said river the breadth of three 
miles opposite thereunto". 

It was a grand scheme and the territorial boundaries of Aga- 
menticus required such ample expansion as the second charter 
outlined. But with the enlargement of the territory of Agamen- 
ticus there was a corresponding enlargement of the governing 

1 Hazard, Historical Collections, I, 480-486. 



320 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

body, which was now made to consist of a mayor, twelve alder- 
men and twenty-four councilmen. The first mayor of Gorgeana 
and also the aldermen were to be appointed by the deputy gov- 
ernor of the province, while the councilmen were to be elected by 
the freeholders. Courts were to be instituted, one to be held 
twice a year in the interest of the public weal, and for the pun- 
ishment of all offenders ; also a court of justice to be held on 
Monday of every week for hearing and determining "all actions 
and differences", the proceedings to be "as near as may be to the 
course of his majesty's court of chancery at Westminster, wherein 
the mayor for the time being [was] to sit as judge with the recorder 
and aldermen, or so many of the said aldermen as shall be 
there". The right of appeal from any decree of this court to Sir 
Ferdinando, or his deputy, was granted. Provision also was 
made for two or four sergeants, known as sergeants of the white 
rod, who should serve and return all precepts issuing out of this 
court. They were to be appointed by the mayor and aldermen, 
and were also to wait on the mayor. A market, also, was estab- 
lished to be held on Wednesday of each week ; also two fairs 

annually "upon the feast days of St. James and St. Paul, 

the benefit of the toll, and other customs incident and belonging 
to fairs and markets", to redown "to the use and advantage" of 
the mayor of Gorgeana. In a word, Gorgeana, as a municipality, 
received "such and so many privileges, liberties and freedoms as 
the city of Bristol", of which Thomas Gorges was a resident. 

When, in 1642, Sir Ferdinando Gorges drew up this charter of 
Gorgeana, he was living, it is said, at Bristol in the Great House 
at St. Augustine's Back, so long known, at a later date, as Col- 
ston's School. He had married September 28, 1629, as his fourth 
wife, L,ady Elizabeth Smyth, daughter of Sir Thomas Gorges, 
and widow of Sir Hugh Smyth of Ashton Court, near Bristol. 1 
The Great House was the property of his wife, as also was the 
Ashton Phillips residence in which Gorges is said to have died. 
At this time Sir Ferdinando by several years had passed the limit 

1 Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 167. 



AGAMENTICUS BECOMES GORGEANA. 321 

of threescore years and ten. He was too old for the duties of 
camp and field, but he was not too old to busy himself with his 
possessions on this side of the sea. Accordingly, as Gorges mused 
and the fire burned, he saw a new empire springing up on the 
shores of New England, and stretching westward over an unex- 
plored continent. Imagination was enkindled. Even if Gorges 
should not cross the sea and assume the governorship of New 
England, he could still be influential through others ; and thoughts 
of Gorgeana filled him with new and brighter hopes. Again the 
aged knight was young and he saw visions, he was old and he 
dreamed dreams. 

In the charter of 1641, Thomas Gorges, the deputy governor of 
the province, was nominated by Sir Ferdinando as the first mayor 
of Agamenticus, then elevated into a borough. In the charter of 
1642, Thomas Gorges was not mentioned, and it is supposed that 
Edward Godfrey was made the first mayor of Gorgeana. 1 In all 
probability Thomas Gorges was already in sympathy with Parlia- 
ment in its contentions with the king ; and when, in the summer 
of 1642, Charles set up his standards at Nottingham, and sum- 
moned his loyal subjects to come to his aid against a rebellious 
Parliament, Thomas Gorges with others could hardly have failed 
to raise the question of personal duty and to give to it thoughtful 
consideration. When his decision was made cannot now be ascer- 
tained, but it was in favor of a return to England; and he com- 
menced to arrange the affairs of the province with reference to 
that end. The precise date of his retirement from the deputy 
governorship is not known. In a letter to Governor Winthrop, 
dated June 28, 1643, however, he announced his purpose soon to 
sail for England ; and in all probability his arrival in England fol- 
lowed in the autumn of that year. How he was received by Sir 
Ferdinando can only be conjectured in the absence of any known 
record. Interviews the two doubtless had. Gorges naturally 
desired to have a full report of the conditions of things in the 

1 Me. Hist. Society's Coll., First Series, IX, 314. 
21 



322 the; beginnings OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

Province of Maine, and such a report the deputy governor would 
expect to make. Thenceforward, each went his own way, Sir 
Ferdinando still adhering to the fortunes of the king. No oppor- 
tunity, in which it was possible for him to manifest his loyalty to 
Charles, was overlooked. At one time he sought permission from 
the mayor of Bristol to bring within the city's defences a body of 
cavalry under Lord Paulet and designed to serve the king, but the 
mayor declined to gratify Gorges on the ground that that part of 
England had declared for Parliament, and not for the king. At 
another time he manifested his devotion to the interests of Charles 
in such a way that he was summoned before Parliament to answer 
for his conduct. 1 On account of his age probably, he was not 
made to experience "the sadness of the times" as were Trelawny 
and others, and he was allowed to return to his home, probably 
accompanied with admonitions that he deemed it wise to heed. It 
was not sunshine with Sir Ferdinando, but clouds and thick 
darkness. 

Not much has come down to us concerning the life of Thomas 
Gorges after his return to England. 2 While his sympathies were 
with the Parliamentary forces, he seems not to have held any 
conspicuous position, either civil or military, until 1649, when he 
was made lieutenant colonel of a cavalry regiment in the Somerset 
militia. Both before and after the Restoration he was made a 
member of Parliament from Taunton. He lived an honored and 
useful life at Heavitree, near Exeter, where he died October 17, 
1670. A monumental stone in Heavitree church marks the place 
of his burial. 3 In his will 4 he bequeathed to his son, Thomas 

1 Barrett, History of Bristol, England, 414. 

2 For the more prominent facts in his life, see Baxter's Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges, II, 186-190. 

3 "Here lyeth the bodyes of Thomas Gorges of Hevitree, Esq. and Rose 
his wife. He departed this life the 17th of October 1670 and she the 14th of 
April 1671." Ferdinando, a son of Thomas Gorges, died at York, Maine, in 
February, 1683, "having come to New England as early as 1674, perhaps in 
the interest of his kinsman, Ferdinando, the grandson of Sir Ferdinando, 
and proprietor of the Province of Maine". Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 
II, 189. 



AGAMENTICUS BECOMES GORGEANA. 323 

Gorges, five thousand acres of land at "Ogungigg" (Ogunquit), 
"of which five thousand acres", with cattle thereon, the father 
took peaceable possession on August 18, 1642, the territory hav- 
ing been granted unto him by deed bearing date August 4, 1641. 
Amid many discouragements, Godfrey, Garde and others upheld 
for awhile the interests of Sir Ferdinando at Gorgeana. But no 
assistance came to them from England. In the battles of Marston 
Moor (July 2, 1644) and Naseby (June 14, 1645), the Parliamen- 
tary forces were victorious. At Naseby especially, Charles I suf- 
fered overwhelming defeat. Indeed, so decisive in that action 
was the result that the king was unable at any later period to rally 
his forces upon any other great battlefield of the civil war. A 
few months later the counties were cleared of royal troops and 
their garrisons capitulated. Raglon Castle held out the longest 
against the Parliamentary troops, but surrendered in August, 
1646. Meanwhile, "in these sad seasons", Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges found employment 1 in writing his Brief e Narration, in 
which he reviewed his long connection with colonial enterprises. 
It is the work of an old man and furnishes abundant evidence of 
the writer's failing mental powers and his enfeebled condition by 
reason of his advanced age ; but, notwithstanding, it is a record 
of great value with reference to colonial beginnings upon the 
coast of Maine. Having finished this task, Gorges rested from 
his labors, and patiently awaited the final call. It came in the 
springtime of 1647. His will 2 was dated May 4, 1647, and his 
burial in the parish church at L,ong Ashton followed ten days 
later. In the last words of the Brief e Narration Gorges gave fit- 
ting expression to his most serious thoughts as he approached the 
close of life : "I end and leave all to him, who is the only author 
of all goodness and knows best his own time to bring his will to 

4 The will is inserted in full in Baxter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 190- 
192. See also York Deeds, Book I, Part II, folios 5, 6, 7. 

1 The words occur in a letter written by Gorges at Ashton, June 1, 1646. 
See Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, III, 299. 

2 lb., II, 149, 150. 



324 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

be made manifest, and appoints his instruments for the accom- 
plishing thereof, to whose pleasure it becomes every one of us to 
submit ourselves, as to that mighty God, and great and gracious 
I^ord, to whom all glory doth belong." 1 

1 Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 81. It may be asked why it was that one who 
stood in high favor with two of England's kings, and in close official rela- 
tions with men of prominence and influence, received only scanty notice in 
contemporary history. The explanation is doubtless to be found in the fact 
that in the great movements of his time Gorges was on the unpopular side. 
In the fight for free fishing he was clearly in the wrong, and while in the 
civil war this was equally true, he was too old to have any important part in 
it. Equally was he on the losing side in his new world enterprises. It was 
the Puritan colony of Massachusetts bay and not the Province of Maine that 
was aided by the time spirit. 




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CHAPTER XIX. 

Ceeeve Secures an Aei^y in Coeonee Rigby. 

THE relations between, Winter and Cleeve were still unfriendly 
and even hostile. Unquestionably, if Cleeve had been left 
in peaceable possession of his lands at Machegonne, the 
earlier conflicts would not have been renewed. But Winter, with- 
out any ground for the assertion, insisted that Cleeve, whom he 
had unsettled at Spur wink, was a trespasser also in his present 
location. Moreover, he now had an able assistant in Rev. Robert 
Jordan, who, on coming to Richmond's island as the successor of 
Rev. Richard Gibson, had espoused Winter's cause with an inten- 
sity of interest, and a disposition to overreach not equalled even 
by Winter himself. 1 The situation, therefore, was one that could 
not fail to awaken in George Cleeve many anxious, disturbing 
thoughts. It was not in Cleeve, however, to lose heart in the 
face of opposition and even possible defeat; and he entered at 
once upon a search for ways and means with which to strengthen 
his hold upon Machegonne. In so doing he recalled earlier grants 
of land in the vicinity, and among them the already mentioned 
L,ygonia patent, 2 of which the patentees in coming hither made no 
use on account of dissatisfaction with the location, and so "van- 
ished away". This patent covered territory forty miles square, 
extending from Cape Porpoise to the Sagadahoc river, and not 
only included but antedated the Trelawny patent. What if the 
grantees, or their survivors, could be induced to part with the 
patent, and it should become the possession of one friendly to 

1 Trelawny Papers, 314-320. 

2 It was known as the Plough patent, a name derived from the name of 
the vessel that brought hither the company of Husbandmen in whose inter- 
est the I/ygonia patent was obtained. 



326 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

Cleeve's interests? The answers suggested by such a considera- 
tion took a strong hold upon Cleeve's mind and heart ; and he 
was not long in outlining a course of procedure for himself that 
promised results of which up to this time he had not even 
dreamed. 

Animated by the hopes that were thus awakened, Cleeve sailed 
from Boston for England June 4, 1642. On his arrival in Lon- 
don, he lost no time in putting himself in communication with 
such original grantees of the L,ygonia patent, or their survivors, 
as he could find. Some time doubtless was spent in the necessary 
search ; and also later in negotiations with reference to the pur- 
chase of the patent. Settlements in the Province of Maine had 
not as yet brought to their promoters large financial returns, but 
the prosperity of the Puritan settlements in New England aided 
Cleeve in his approach to those who were in sympathy with Puri- 
tan ascendency in England ; and availing himself of opportuni- 
ties that opened to him on account of this ascendency, he at length 
made the acquaintance of Colonel Alexander Rigby, 1 an influential 
member of Parliament, to whom he made known his plans and 

1 Colonel Alexander Rigby was born in 1594 at Middleton Hall, Goosnargh 
parish (near Preston) , county of Lancashire, England. He studied for the 
profession of law, and entered upon the practice of law ; but becoming iden- 
tified with matters leading up to the civil war, in which he advocated the 
popular cause, he devoted his attention largely to political affairs. In 1640, 
he was elected a member of Parliament, and soon by his ability and careful 
attention to business he obtained considerable distinction. In the progress 
of the civil war, he was made a colonel in the parliamentary forces. He 
was also a member of the Lancashire committee for sequestrating "notorious 
delinquent estates". He held many important public offices. When the 
king was brought to trial early in 1649, Cromwell nominated Colonel Rigby 
as one of the judges, but he declined to serve. In that year he was made one 
of the barons of the Court of Exchequer. He was also one of the two com- 
missioners appointed for the establishment of the High Court of Justice. 
He died in London, August 18, 1650, having with other officials been taken 
ill while attending court at Croyden in Surry. For an extended account of 
Colonel Rigby 's life and services see three papers by Dr. Charles E. Banks 
in the Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder for 1885 ; also a note by 
Hon. James P. Baxter in the Trelawny Papers, 365-367. 



CI^EVE SECURES AN ALLY. 327 

purposes. Apparently Cleeve had no difficulty in interesting 
Rigby in colonial undertakings, and inducing him to make the 
small outlay required in securing possession of the L,ygonia pat- 
ent. The purchase was consummated April 7, 1643, when "John 
Dye, John Smith, Thomas Jupe, and others, survivors of Bryan 
Bincks and others, with their associates", granted unto Colonel 
Alexander Rigby, of Rigby in the county of Lancashire, "all 
their estate, interest and claim" in the Province of L,ygonia, the 
name given to the new province. 

Thus far Cleeve' s efforts had been crowned with entire success. 
But provision must be made for the government of the new prov- 
ince. This received due attention and Colonel Rigby gave Cleeve 
a commission as deputy president of the province, Rigby retain- 
ing only nominal headship in recognition of proprietary control. 
Subordinate administrative officers were also appointed. 

Cleeve had now secured all that he sought in making his way 
to England. But his eyes were not closed to certain obstacles 
which must be removed if he was to reach the results he had in 
view. Robert Trelawny, upon whom Winter had leaned in his 
persecution of Cleeve, was in a L,ondon prison, withdrawn from 
the world to such an extent that even his correspondence with 
Winter had ceased. But what of the men on the other side of 
the sea — Vines, Godfrey, Winter and others, Cleeve' s most stren- 
uous opponents hitherto, — who were not likely to accept without 
question and added conflicts the new order of things about to be 
established ? Especially was opposition to be expected from Vines 
and Godfrey ; and in order to have the questions at issue settled 
at once upon his return to New England, Cleeve in a petition to 
the House of Commons — on his own behalf and also of other 
planters whose names he added, probably by request and for whom 
he "avowed" 1 — called attention to the action of Sir Ferdinando 

1 After Cleeve's return and the contents of this petition were made known, 
the charge was brought against Cleeve that he attached to the petition the 
names of persons who had no knowledge of its contents and had not author- 
ized such a use of their names. Depositions, including such statements, 
will be found in Baxter's George Cleeve, 262-264. The petition itself, how- 



328 the; beginnings of colonial maine;. 

Gorges in placing over the petitioners and other planters ' 'several 
governors and other officers", who were exercising "unlawful 
and arbitrary power and jurisdiction over the persons and estate' ' 
of the petitioners and "the said other planters to their great 
oppression, utter impoverishment and the hindrance of the plan- 
tation in these parts". 2 In certain "articles" affixed to the peti- 

ever, shows that while Cleeve added to the petition thirty names, he did not 
indicate in any way that these were names of signers, for at the close of the 
list of names he added the words, "Avowed by me George Cleeve". In fact 
in one of these depositions, that of Francis Robinson of Saco, an explana- 
tion of Cleeve' s action in adding these thirty names is given as follows : 
"And I do moreover testify that Mr. Thomas Jenner, minister of God's word, 
told me he asked Mr. Cleeve why he put men's hands to a petition that they 
never saw, and he said his answer was the Parliament bid him do it" (Bax- 
ter's, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 263). Mr. Baxter's remark 
{George Cleeve, 122) with reference to this action of Cleeve places the mat- 
ter in its true light. "We are not for a moment to suppose that the Parlia- 
ment ordered him to forge names to his petition, and certainly it would be 
nearly as unreasonable to suppose that he could have been so foolhardy, nay, 
such an imbecile as to say that Parliament bid him commit forgery; for a 
statement so palpably false to the weakest intellect would only submit him 
to instant condemnation. A better theory and one which meets all require- 
ments readily presents itself to the mind, and this is, that when Cleeve pre- 
sented his petition to Parliament, he was ordered to write upon it the names 
of such persons as he thought he could rely upon to aid in substantiating his 
charges, which he did by writing upon it the names of persons residing in 
the province and cognizant of the acts charged." 

2 Inquiry with reference to this petition was made in the Public Records 
Office in London by Hon. James P. Baxter when he was collecting material 
for his George Cleeve of Casco Bay ; but he was informed that this was one 
among other papers of Parliament destroyed by fire at some period in the 
history of the Records Office. Fortunately, however, a copy of the petition 
found its way to this country, probably among the papers which Cleeve 
brought with him on his return, and that copy in recent years has come into 
the possession of the Maine Historical Society. It is herewith printed for 
the first time : 

' ' To the right honorable, the knights, citizens and burgesses of the House 
of Commons assembled in Parliament : 

"The humble petition of George Cleeve, gent, on the behalf of himself 
and others, the planters and inhabitants of New Somersetshire in New Eng- 
land, whose names are submitted : 



CEEEVE SECURES AN AEEY. 



329 



tion the "several oppressions, injuries and offences" charged 
upon these governors and other officers were recorded, and the 
members of the House of Commons were asked to take "the 
premises into due consideration and to cause redress thereof to be 
made". 

Unfortunatelv the "articles" referred to in the petition have 

"Most humbly showing that the petitioners and the rest of the planters 
there by virtue of her patent made by the late King James, bearing date the 
3rd of November in the eighteenth year of his majesty's reign, and by other 
grant and assignment thereupon made, ought to be governed according to 
the rules and directions contained in the said patent. 

"Yet, nevertheless, so it is, that Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Kt., hath of late 
years without any lawful authority set over your petitioners and the said 
other planters several governors and other officers, who contrary to the said 
her patent exercise unlawful and arbitrary power and jurisdiction over the per- 
sons and estate of your petitioners and the said other planters to their great 
oppression, utter impoverishment and the hindrance of the plantation in 
these parts. And these governors and officers amongst many other misde- 
meanors have done and committed the several oppressions, injuries and 
offences contained in the articles hereto affixed. 

"Wherefore your petitioner on the behalf of himself and the said other 
planters most humbly pray unto your honors to take the premises into due 
consideration, and to cause redress thereof to be made and due recompense 
to the parties grieved. 

"And your petitioner as by duty bound shall daily pray for your honor's 
good. 

George Frost, 

John Bonython, 

John West, 

William Coale, 

John Smith, 

John Wadley, 

William Smith, 

John Wilkinson, 

Anthony Newland, 

Francis Robinson, 

Joseph Jenks, 

Peter Weare. 



Richard Tucker, 
Michael Mitton, 
Arthur Mackworth 
William Ryall, 
Arnold Allen, 
Henry Watts, 
Henry Boade, 
Will m Hay ward, 
Thomas Raynolds, 
Henry Sympson, 
Richard Barnard, 



Thomas Page, 
George Puddington, 
John Baker, 
Edward Johnson, 
Henry Lyme, 
John Alcock, 
Andrew Alger, 



Avowed by me 

George Cleeve." 



330 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

not come down to us. 1 From the petition, however, as well as 
from the action of the House of Commons, it may be inferred that 
these "articles" presented charges of "oppressions, injuries and 
offences" against such prominent officials as Vines and Godfrey. 
But whatever may be the fact, it is certain that the Commons 
appointed a commission, consisting of four prominent residents in 
New England— Governor Winthrop, Arthur Mackworth, Henry 
Boade and Captain Edward Gibbons — to take these articles into 
consideration and render a decision upon the charges they con- 
tained. 

With these papers from the House of Commons, the papers with 
reference to the transfer of the I^ygonia patent to Colonel Rigby 
and his commission as deputy governor of the new Province of 
I^ygonia, Cleeve once again set his face homeward. He would 
have been less than human if he had not contrasted the conditions 
under which he first embarked for the new world and those under 
which he now set sail, and his reflections must have given to him 
peculiar satisfaction. He indulged, however, in no feelings of 
bitterness or revenge. All that he claimed or desired was that the 
treatment he had hitherto received should now stop and bygones 
be bygones. 

On his arrival at Boston, Cleeve had an interview with Governor 
Winthrop, and having made known to him the result of his visit 
to England, he endeavored to enlist his interest in the speedy and 
peaceful establishment of the new government of the Province of 
Ivygoriia. Unquestionably the sympathy of Winthrop and his 
associates was with Cleeve and the new order of things he desired 
to institute in the eastward settlements ; but for prudential rea- 
sons they hesitated to manifest their sympathy while matters 
between the king and Parliament had not as yet reached a decisive 
issue, the General Court September 1, 1643, placing on record its 
attitude in the vote that it was ' 'not meet to write to the eastward 

1 They were written on a sheet or sheets of paper, and accompanied the 
petition, as is indicated in the petition itself. Their loss is greatly to be 
regretted as it deprives us of information not elsewhere to be found. 



CLEEVE SECURES AN ALLY. 331 

about Mr. Cleeve according to his desire' ' .* It seems to have been 
understood, however, that Governor Winthrop would send an 
unofficial communication to Deputy Governor Vines at Saco, 
informing him of Cleeve' s return with a commission as deputy- 
president of the Province of I^ygonia under Rigby's proprietary 
government ; and this was done doubtless with a diplomatic 
expression of hope for a peaceable adjustment of the differences 
that had hitherto existed. 

The information called forth from Vines only an indignant 
response dated January 9, 1644. It was not sent, however, until 
after the arrival of Cleeve at Machegonne, now known as Casco. 
In his reply 2 Vines assailed the present validity of the L,ygonia 
patent. In its purchase, "Mr. Rigby (a worthy gent, by report) ' ' 
had secured what in Vines' estimation was "no better than a 
broken title", resting upon claims that were utterly indefensible, 
and furnished another illustration of the "insufferable wrongs" 
he and others had received in connection with the "sinister prac- 
tices" of George Cleeve. Then followed mention of the latter' s 
attempt to set up his authority in the territory covered by the 
Lygonia patent, — his appointment of officials, also "a court to be 
kept in Casco bay the 25th of March next" (1644). He had also 
sent his agent, Tucker, with a paper persuading all such as in any 
way were inclining to innovation "to set their hands to it for the 
better approving of what they have begun", and also to entreat 
Winthrop and the rest of the Massachusetts magistrates to defend 
them from French, Indians and other enemies, "which we con- 
strue to be Sir Ferdinando Gorges' commissioners". In addition 
to these "seditious proceedings", Vines called attention to Cleeve 's 
assaults upon Gorges, using the "foul name of traitor", accusing 
him of counterfeiting "the king's broad seal", and so inflicting 
upon "that grave knight a deeper wound in his reputation". 
These and other grievances Winthrop was asked to take into con- 
sideration, Vines expressing the hope that if those opposed to 

1 Massachusetts Colonial Records, II, 41. 

2 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents , 233-236. 



332 the; beginnings of colonial mains. 

Cleeve were forced to take such courses as "the necessity and the 
equity" of the case required, the governor would not think they 
had done amiss. 

Evidently some allowances must be made for the excited state 
of mind in which Vines penned this letter. On the other hand, 
Cleeve in his attitude toward Vines and his opponents manifested 
a calmness of demeanor under the circumstances that was hardly 
to be expected, and which later led so careful a historian as Wil- 
liamson 1 to say of Cleeve in his relation to this matter, "he 
adjusted his conduct by rules of strict prudence and moderation." 

As to the validity of his own grant on the Saco, Vines had no 
occasion for anxiety inasmuch as the grant antedated the L,ygonia 
patent. But it was otherwise with those who had settled on land 
within the limits of that patent, especially as Cleeve, when in 
England, had secured from Rigby a confirmation of his Mache- 
gonne grant, 2 a procedure designed for the instruction of those 
whose titles were derived from a similar source. It was certainly 
an undesirable state of things. With two rival governments in 
the territory from Cape Porpoise to the Sagadahoc, it was not 
likely that either would exercise those helpful, restraining influ- 
ences which are desirable and needful in all civil relations, and of 
which there had been a lamentable lack in the scattered Maine 
settlements hitherto. 

The beginnings of a movement for bringing to an end such a 
condition of affairs was made by Cleeve, who at his first court at 
Casco suggested that the question of governmental authority in 
the province should be submitted to the magistrates of Massachu- 
setts bay. The suggestion was approved by those present at the 
court and a letter was prepared, addressed to Cleeve and Vines, 
asking the Bay colony officials to arbitrate their differences, and 
pledging themselves to stand by the result "till it shall be other- 
wise made known unto them by a trial in England". In such a 
reference, however, Vines only could see a deep-laid plot on the 

1 History of Maine, I, 296. 

2 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 246-250. 



CIvEEVE SECURES AN AU,Y. 333 

part of Cleeve, and he declined to enter into the agreement 
on the ground that neither he nor any other had the right to 
attempt anything of the kind without the authority of Gorges ; 
and, in his letter to Winthrop, Vines added, "neither do I believe 
that your worship and the rest of your honored court will meddle 
with any trial of this nature' ' - 1 

Evidently Vines had ground for this belief. While the sym- 
pathy of the leaders of the Puritan colony were with Rigby and 
Cleeve, it was of the greatest importance that they should have 
regard to existing conditions in the mother country. As yet no 
decisive battle had been fought between the forces of the king and 
the forces of Parliament. It was evident that even in the parlia- 
mentary army there were those who "did not want to beat the 
king too much", 2 and Winthrop and his associates, notwithstand- 
ing their remoteness from the din and shock of arms, needed to 
be exceedingly careful not to imperil their own interests by acts 
on this side of the sea, for which later they might be called to 
answer in case Charles should abandon his present hostile attitude 
and so retain his crown. 

But the matter did not end with Vines' refusal to consent to the 
suggestion made by Cleeve. When Tucker, who acted as Cleeve 's 
messenger, appeared in Saco bringing a letter to Vines containing 
the proposal for arbitration, he was arrested for "peremptory and 
abusive language" ; and when Tucker, indignant at the reception 
he received, refused to give security for his appearance at the next 
court at Saco, he was committed to the "Marshall". Security, 
however, was furnished on the following day, and Tucker was 
released. "He deserved much more", Vines wrote to Governor 
Winthrop, "but we forbear till we hear from your worship". 3 
If Vines expected any words from Winthrop approving of this 
treatment of Tucker, he was disappointed. 

In this stress of affairs at the eastward, Cleeve, as well as Vines, 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents , 241. 

2 S. R. Gardiner, The Puritan Revolution, 145. 

3 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 240-242. 



334 THE BEGINNINGS OF COI/DNIAI, MAINE. 

appealed to Winthrop, referring to Rev. Robert Jordan as a "min- 
ister of antichrist", accusing him of slandering "the Parliament 
of England with vile reproachful terms" and belching out "his 
blasphemies against the churches of Christ in this land, charging 
them with schism and faction for fasting and praying for the 
affliction of their brethren in England". 1 While these words and 
others equally hostile to the "prelatical" party in the province 
were plainly designed to enlarge the sympathies of the Puritan 
governor in his thoughts of Cleeve and his associates in the Prov- 
ince of Lygonia, Winthrop was not moved to deviate from the 
non-partisan course he had adopted with reference to the settle- 
ments upon the coast outside of the limits of the Bay colony. 

But there was need that something should be done ; and a few 
days later Cleeve reverted to the action of the House of Commons 
in answer to the petition he presented with reference to the 
"great oppression, utter impoverishment and the hindrance of 
the plantation in these parts" by reason of the exercise of "unlaw- 
ful and arbitrary power" as exhibited in certain "articles" there- 
with presented ; and he addressed a letter to Governor Winthrop 
and his "loving friend" Captain Edward Gibbons of Boston, ask- 
ing them to proceed against the parties mentioned in the action 
of the House, appointing a commission of prominent men in New 
England to examine and act upon the charges preferred in the 
articles presented. It was suggested that the most suitable time 
for such a hearing, "in regard of men's occasion of planting", 
would be about the middle of May ; and a request was made for 
the appearance at that time of John Baker of Piscataqua, Francis 
Robinson of Saco, Andrew Alger of Stratton's island, John Bony- 
thon, William Royall, Michael Mitton and Richard Tucker, "to 
prove the articles". 2 

In all probability, however, there was still hesitancy on the 
part of Winthrop and his associates with reference to the duty 
laid upon them by the House of Commons, and matters were 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 238-240. 

2 lb., 243, 244. 



CLEEVE SECURES AN AELY. 335 

allowed to drift on as hitherto. But, in accordance with a sug- 
gestion by Winthrop, Vines agreed that matters as to govern- 
mental relations should be held in abeyance until further orders 
should come from England. There is evidence, however, that 
Vines did not hold to his agreement, and after some time had 
elapsed, in opposition to advice he had received from Winthrop, 
he proceeded to reopen hostilities by sending out warrants for the 
arrest of Cleeve and Tucker, indicating a purpose also to "subdue 
the rest unto obedience". 1 

But, in 1644, affairs in. England were adverse to Charles, and 
increasingly so in 1645. In fact, after the battle of Naseby, when 
the royal forces were so utterly defeated that the king "never 
ventured to lift his head again in the field", 2 there was no longer 
occasion for hesitancy on the part of Winthrop and his associates, 
and they entered upon the task assigned to them. This was not 
pleasing to Vines, who complained to Winthrop that by the action 
of the House of Commons he had not been afforded that "lawful 
favor and means" he should have received in order to vindicate 
himself from Cleeve's "most unjust accusations". That he had 
not answered the summons to appear in Boston, he explained, 
was on account of a fear of danger to himself and lest some mis- 
chief should befall his family in his absence. As to Rigby's 
right, he regarded it as without any foundation. It rested upon 
' 'an old broken title (for we hear of nothing but the Plough patent, 
which was deserted thirteen years past) ' ' , while Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges' right was from the king, and in not defending it he 
"might be justly condemned of infidelity and pusillanimity". 
This much, however, he would concede: "if there come an 
order, either from King or Parliament, for the establishing of Mr. 
Rigby in that patent", he and those in agreement with him 
would submit. This letter was written August 4, 1645. 3 

Parliament, as represented by the House of Commons, had 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 253. 

2 S. R. Gardiner, The Puritan Revolution, 149. 

3 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 258-262. 



336 the; beginnings op colonial maine. 

already spoken ; but no word came from the king or from Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges, whose authority Vines and his associates 
recognized. The general court of the Province of Maine accord- 
ingly proceeded October 21, 1645, to elect Vines deputy governor 
"for one whole year", and directed that a deputy governor should 
be elected annually. It was also provided that "in case said 
Richard Vines should depart the country before one year expired' ' , 
Henry Josselyn should become his successor. 1 In this last provi- 
sion there is an indication that Vines had in view intentions that 
would withdraw him not only from his official position in the 
province, but also from the strife in which largely because of this 
position he hitherto had been involved. And this was the fact. 
Evidently Vines was disheartened. Things on the other side of 
the sea were not moving in accordance with royalist hopes and 
expectations ; and wearied with this burden of continual disap- 
pointment, he decided to lay it off and with it the other burdens 
he had carried so long. Accordingly, he sold his landed interests 
on the Saco and shortly after sailed for Barbadoes, where he 
made for himself and his family a new home under sunnier skies 
and more peaceful conditions. 

But while the departure of the deputy governor deprived 
Cleeve's opponents of a forceful, inspiring leader, Vines had in 
Henry Josselyn, the new deputy governor, a successor no less 
resolute and aggressive. In fact, he was so aggressive that he 
proceeded at once to carry war into Cleeve's own territory, aim- 
ing, as Cleeve and his friends reported, to draw away the people 
of L,ygonia "from their subjection to Mr. Rigby's lawful author- 
ity", and by force of arms to deal with the supporters of Cleeve 
as opportunity and pleasure suggested. 2 Cleeve had called a 
court to meet at Casco on the last day in March. This was the 
day selected by Josselyn and his associates for a warlike demon- 
stration, and Cleeve and his followers, deprecating "a civil war", 
hastened to implore the aid of the Puritans of Massachusetts bay. 

1 Early Records of Maine, I, 107. 

2 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 265-269. 



CLEEVE SECURES AN AUyY. 337 

Governor Winthrop, in his reply to this appeal, addressing a 
letter to Josselyn as well as to Cleeve, discouraged acts of hostility 
and urged forbearance on the part of both parties until expected 
advices, then on the way from England, were received. What 
happened on court day was described by Rev. Thomas Jenner 1 of 
Saco in a letter to Governor Winthrop, 2 both Cleeve and Josselyn 
having united in a request that Mr. Jenner, who had opened the 
proceedings of the day with a sermon, should present the report. 
"Mr. Josselyn and his company", he said, "came armed with 
guns and swords, or both : Mr. Cleeve and his company unarmed. 
After sermon was ended, Mr. Josselyn and his company separated 
themselves about a furlong from Mr. Cleeve and his company. 
They sent unto Mr. Cleeve a demand in writing (with all their 
hands subscribed) to have a sight of his originals, promising a safe 
return. After some hesitation and demur, Mr. Cleeve, upon con- 

1 Rev. Thomas Jenner was the first Puritan minister in Maine. That we 
find him in Saco was due doubtless to the suggestion of Governor Winthrop, 
who had known him probably since his arrival in New England in 1634-35. In 
1640, he represented in the General Court the town of Weymouth, where 
he served as pastor. Williamson (Me. Hist. Society's Coll., Second Series, 
III, 293), says it would seem that his mission was to "remove some impres- 
sions supposed to have been made by Rev. Mr. Gibson, favorable to the Epis- 
copal sentiments and form of worship". It is easy to understand why the 
services of a Puritan minister at Saco would be deemed desirable by Governor 
Winthrop ; but that Richard Vines shared the governor's feelings is not to 
be considered in the least probable. It is quite likely, however, that there 
were those in Saco who had made known to the Massachusetts governor 
a desire for a Puritan minister, and that Winthrop opened the way for 
Mr. Jenner's coming. This may be inferred from a letter addressed by Mr. 
Jenner to Governor Winthrop, April 2, 1641, in which he says that his 
preaching seemed to him to make a good impression on those who heard him 
except "Mr. Vines and one more", who told him he "struck at the Church 
of England' ' . This Mr. Jenner disclaimed, and there was no complaint from 
others. Unquestionably at Saco, as in other places in the Province of Maine, 
there was an increase of the Puritan element with the increase of population 
by immigration. It is not known how long Mr. Jenner remained in Saco. 
Folsom (History of Saco, 82) limits his stay to two years, but it may have 
been longer. Afterwards he returned to England. 

2 Baxter, George Cleeve, 273-276. 

22 



338 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

dition they would come together in one place, promised to gratify 
them". By the "originals" evidently were meant the L,ygonia 
patent, its assignment to Rigby, Cleeve's appointment as deputy 
president and the instructions Cleeve had received from Colonel 
Rigby. To place such documents in the hands of Cleeve's mili- 
tant opponents might well have occasioned hesitation; but the 
rightfulness of the demand was recognized and the documents 
were produced. These were "publicly read and scanned", but 
nevertheless the next morning there followed a demand on the part 
of Josselyn and his associates that Cleeve and his adherents should 
"submit themselves unto the authority and government derived 
from Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and that for the future they address 
themselves unto their courts". Thereupon Cleeve demanded a 
sight of the originals of the other party. ' 'None being produced' ' , 
says Mr. Jenner, Cleeve "disclaimed obedience, and told them 
there was no equality between his something and their nothing". 
This ended the conference, the Gorges party, as a final word, 
offering to submit all matters in dispute to the Massachusetts 
magistrates as arbitrators. The offer was accepted and both 
parties bound themselves "each to other in a bond of five hun- 
dred pounds personally to appear at Boston the next court after 
May, then and there to implead each other". In this outcome of 
the conference, Mr. Jenner saw "the power of God's holy word 
awing their hearts", so that "thus after two or three days' agita- 
tion each man departed very peaceably to his own home' ' . 

At the hearing in Boston, Cleeve and Tucker represented the 
Rigby interests, and Josselyn and Robinson the Gorges interests. 1 
At the outset there was doubt on the part of some of the magis- 
trates as to whether the matters in dispute came properly within 
their jurisdiction ; but the majority, considering that it was the 
' 'usual practice in Europe for two states being at odds to make a 
third judge between them", saw an opportunity for a peaceful 
settlement, and the trial proceeded. The statements and evidence 
presented, however, were of such a contradictory character that 

1 Winthrop, Journal, under date March 26, 1646. 



CEEEVE SECURES AN AELY. 339 

both parties, according to Winthrop "failed in their proof". The 
perplexed jury, therefore, "could find for neither, but gave in a 
non liquet ' ; and the magistrates closed the case with an exhorta- 
tion for "the parties to live in peace, etc., till the matter might 
be determined by authority out of England." 

Evidently it was within the knowledge of the Massachusetts 
magistrates that Parliament was about to direct its attention to 
these New England matters. In fact, they themselves may have 
urged such consideration. It is altogether likely, also, that simi- 
lar action had been urged by Colonel Rigby, who was in frequent 
communication with Cleeve and was fully informed with reference 
to the difficulties that Cleeve had encountered in his conflict with 
the Gorges interests. Neither party, however, had long to wait 
for the desired authoritative decision. The case came before the 
Earl of Warwick and the commissioners for foreign plantations. 
Colonel Rigby appeared for himself, and John Gorges, the eldest 
son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, represented the Gorges interests. 
Details with reference to the hearing are wanting. March 27, 
1647, judgment was rendered in favor of Rigby, who was declared 
"the rightful owner and proprietor" of I,ygonia, which in the 
decision was made to cover the territory from the Kennebunk 
river to the Sagadahoc, leaving to Gorges and his heirs only the 
small tract of land between the Kennebunk and Piscataqua rivers. 1 

Of course it is to be remembered that naturally the sympathy of 
the judges was with Rigby. It is also to be remembered that 
for some time affairs in England had been moving very strongly 
against the royalist party. Had it been otherwise, the decision 
might have been different. It is difficult, however, to escape the 
conclusion that the decision was a just one. When, in 1630, the 
council for New England granted to the IyOndon Husbandmen the 
Lygonia patent, Sir Ferdinando Gorges was a member of the 
council, indeed one of its prominent members, and so was not 
ignorant of its action in making this grant. He never denied 
participation in that action, or protested against it. Moreover, as 

1 Winthrop, Journal, II, 390. 



340 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

the province which the grant covered received the designation 
L,ygonia, in honor, it is supposed, of Cicely L,ygon, the mother of 
Sir Ferdinando Gorges, his connection with the grant from the 
first seems to have been especially close. The grant was legally 
made ; it legally came into the possession of Colonel Rigby ; and 
the Karl of Warwick, 1 and his associates, the commissioners for 
foreign plantations, evidently saw no reason why they should not 
confirm the validity of Rigby' s title to it. 

It is possible that no information concerning this decision came 
to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, adding to the disappointments that had 
so frequently darkened his pathway through life. His last work 
was in writing his Brief e Narration, in which are found so many 
evidences of failing mental powers. As the decision of the 
judges was rendered only a few weeks before the aged knight 
closed his eyes in death, 2 it may be that then the things of earth 
had so far faded to his view that the loss of so large a part of his 
Province of Maine, as the decision announced, had no message 
and therefore no sorrow for him. 

Cleeve, with a commission as deputy president, now proceeded 
to organize the Province of L,ygonia. In this he had the assist- 
ance of a commission appointed by Parliament, and consisting of 
such prominent Massachusetts officials as Winthrop, Dudley and 

1 He was a member of the council for New England when the grant was 
made. 

2 He died at his residence, Ashton Phillips, in a suburb of Bristol. "His 
will bears the date of May 4th, 1647, and the date of his burial in the church 
at lyong Ashton, a few rods from his residence called Ashton Phillips, is the 
14th." Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, I, 196. Lewis Upton Way, in a 
paper on "The Smyths of Ashton Court ", Transactions of the Bristol and 
Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, XXXI, 255, says, "Sir Ferdinando 
[Gorges] died in May, 1647, and his widow in 1658, both being buried in the 
Smyth vault at I/ong Ashton". Ashton Court is still in the possession of 
the Smyth family, and the large, attractive mansion, with its beautiful gar- 
dens, extensive grounds, and doubtless fine old trees as to-day, must have 
been a familiar place to Sir Ferdinando Gorges. The widow of Sir Hugh 
Smyth was Gorges' last wife, and a portrait of her continues to adorn the 
walls of Ashton Court. The mansion was erected by Inigo Jones in 1634. 



cmnvn secures an au,y. 341 

Bellingham. In the selection of assistants necessary for the 
proper administration of the affairs of the province, Cleeve's most 
strenuous opponents were not overlooked. Unhappily only a few 
of the early records of the province have come down to us, and 
we are unable to tell with any fulness the story of the establish- 
ment of generally recognized authority and order within the pro- 
vincial limits. Among these records, 1 however, in a report of a 
court held at Black Point on the last of May, 1648, signed by 
the three judges of the Province of Lygonia— George Cleeve, 
Henry Josselyn and Robert Jordan,— there is furnished an illustra- 
tion of the new order of things that followed the establishment of 
Rigby's claim. The decree of Parliament was accepted at least 
for the present; and the inhabitants of the province, however 
divided hitherto, worked together in harmonious relations, seek- 
ing the common weal. 

All that now remained of Sir Ferdinando Gorges' Province of 
Maine was the small territory between the Kennebunk and Pis- 
cataqua rivers, comprising the settlements of Piscataqua (name 
changed to Kittery in 1647), Gorgeana and Wells. Since the 
return of deputy governor Thomas Gorges to England in 1643 
Edward Godfrey, at Gorgeana, had been at the head of the pro- 
vincial government, and had faithfully served the Gorges inter- 
ests. But from all that has come down to us concerning him it is 
evident he had not caught even a glimpse of the new political era 
then opening in England, and which found its speediest develop- 
ment in the Puritan colonies on this side of the Atlantic. Old, 
established forms of government were good enough for him, and 
he deprecated movements that would bring in an order of things 
that was new and untried. Sad days he had seen in his efforts to 
do the right as he saw the right ; but he had fallen on what to 
him were evil times, but his saddest days were those yet to come. 
1 Early Records of Maine, I, 121. 



CHAPTER XX. 
Robert Jordan as Winter's Successor. 

CONCERNING Winter's attitude toward Cleeve after the lat- 
ter' s return from England as the deputy president of the 
Province of L,ygonia, there is no information. In his last 
letter to Robert Trelawny, written in Boston, July 19, 1642, 
Winter recorded Cleeve's departure in these few words : "Cleeve 
is come for England in a ship that came from Virginia, that spent 
her masts and stopped here in Massachusetts bay to new mast. 
The ship is of London." 1 Evidently Cleeve's latest movement 
had no important significance to John Winter. In charge of 
Robert Trelawny' s interests at Richmond's island and vicinity, he 
then regarded those interests as in every way secure. Plainly in 
his opinion any effort on the part of Cleeve to thwart the declared 
purposes of one so powerful as Robert Trelawny was sure to fail, 
and accordingly Winter, in his letter to Trelawny, saw no need of 
added reference to his Machegonne opponent. 

Moreover, while Cleeve was taking advantage of conditions in 
England that opened to him an easy way to desired success, 
Winter apparently gave them no heed. His letters to Trelawny 
had no reference to differences between king and parliament then 
dividing the kingdom. He makes mention of the fact that on the 
Maine coast "the times are very bad". He represents business 
as at a standstill. "Here lies fish unsold for want of a ship to 
carry it to a market", he writes. He mourns over the distress of 
the people because there is "no money to be gotten' ' . He regrets 

1 Trelawny Papers, 322. Probably the ship was the Bleanor of London. 
"She was laden with tobacco from Virginia, and was well fitted with masts, 
sails, rigging and victuals at such reasonable rates as the master was much 
affected with his entertainment." Winthrop, II, 75. 



ROBERT JORDAN AS WINTER'S SUCCESSOR. 343 

that English manufactures were not coming to New England as 
formerly. "Cloth of all sorts", he says, is "very scarce; both 
linen and woolen are dear". 1 Indeed all trade relations were in 
such a depressed state that Trelawny wrote to Winter concerning 
the sale of his interests at Richmond's island and vicinity. In 
his reply, Winter praised the property, but expressed a doubt if, 
under the circumstances, a purchaser could be found. 2 In a sub- 
sequent letter, Winter added : "I [have] written into the Bay to 
give notice of the intent and purpose of the sale of [this] planta- 
tion ; but as yet I hear nothing from them I purpose, 

God willing, to go into the Bay, but I make doubt of find[ing] 
any there that will buy 3 it". Winter went to Boston as he pur- 
posed, but he found the same conditions there as at the eastward. 
"I have acquainted some here of the sale of the plantation", he 
wrote to Trelawny, "but cannot learn of any that will buy it". 4 
The correspondence shows that Winter saw and felt existing con- 
ditions in the New England settlements. Writing to Trelawny 
in one of his most depressing moods, he said : "There is a great 
many weary of this country, and I think have spent most of their 
estates, and now are going for the West Indies to live there, as 
soon as they can get passage" . 5 The statement of course was' an 
exaggerated one, but unquestionably it represented a widespread 
feeling in the province at the time. The noteworthy thing in 
connection with it is the entire absence in Winter's letters of any 
reference to affairs in England as affecting conditions in New 
England. 

Winter's first awakening to a recognition of the changed politi- 
cal conditions in England apparently occurred in connection with 
the arrest and imprisonment of Robert Trelawny. It will be 
remembered that in his last letter to Winter, Trelawny, then a 
member of Parliament, had insisted that all things in Parliament 

1 Trelawny Papers, 321. 

2 lb., 284. 

3 lb., 309. 

4 lb., 321. 

5 lb., 309. 



344 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

were going "well", and lie expressed the hope to Winter that in 
a few days its members would "settle religion in peace and restore 
the subject to his ancient liberty and right of property". 1 Doubt- 
less Winter without hesitation accepted Trelawny's encouraging 
statements. It was enough for him that one so well informed as 
Robert Trelawny had made this forecast concerning England's 
immediate future, and he was satisfied. 

Winter was not left long, however, in this condition of satisfac- 
tion. Because of his hearty sympathy with the royal cause and 
his readiness to aid it in all possible ways, Trelawny soon fell 
under suspicion, and on March 9, 1642, by order of the House of 
Commons, he was arrested, tried and expelled for having said 
' 'that the House could not appoint a guard for themselves without 
the king's consent, under pain of high treason". I^ord Claren- 
don 2 says an attempt was made to prove the charge by a witness 
who pretended to have overheard Trelawny. The person with 
whom the conference was held, however, "declared that he said it 
might be imputed to them for high treason ; and it was confessed 
on all parts that the words were spoken long before the discovery, 
and some days before the House had resolved 'that they would 
have a guard' ". According to the Journal of the House of Com- 
mons, also, the testimony presented at the trial in support of the 
charge was of very little worth. 3 Obviously it would not have been 
given any weight whatever in ordinary times. But this was not 
an ordinary time. England was rapidly approaching the brink of 
civil war, and suspicions not only were rife on the part of com- 
batants on either side, but they were influential, and too often 
decisive. 

It is known that the imprisonment of Robert Trelawny by order 
of the House of Commons followed his expulsion, but it may not 
have followed immediately. L,ord Clarendon says, "when the 

1 Trelawny Papers, 274. 

2 History of the Rebellion, folio ed., I, 349. 

8 Baxter (George Cleeve, 136) says Trelawny was "a martyr to the preju- 
dice and bigotry which seemed to inspire all parties alike". 



ROBERT JORDAN AS WINTER'S SUCCESSOR. 345 

war began to break out", meaning the civil war, Trelawny was 
"again imprisoned", 1 thus indicating that there had been a pre- 
vious arrest and imprisonment ; and such probably was the fact. 

When, and in what way, the tidings of Trelawny 's arrest and 
imprisonment reached John Winter, there is no record. The 
Trelawny Papers have preserved to us important information con- 
cerning life and affairs in connection with Trelawny' s interests at 
Richmond's island and vicinity, but they fail us in our search for 
any letter or letters in which there is even a hint at the misfor- 
tunes that overtook Plymouth's representative in Parliament and 
the possessor of the Trelawny patent. But such information must 
have found its way hither. It may have long been delayed. 
Robert Trelawny was arrested and tried March 9, 1642, as already 
mentioned ; but a letter written by Winter to Trelawny July 19, 
1642, 2 makes no mention of Trelawny 's misfortunes. Prudential 
considerations cannot account for such silence on Winter's part. 
If Winter had received such intelligence, it seems impossible that 
he should have failed to give some expression of regret and hope 
in a letter to one with whom he had held very close personal 
business relations for many years. It is to be remembered, how- 
ever, that letters then came to Richmond's island only occasionally, 
and for the most part by some vessel making its way to the coast 
for fishing or trading purposes. Accordingly the opportunities 
for such transmissal were exceedingly irregular. 

But one day, still unknown, a sail was discovered approaching 
Richmond's island from the eastward. It awakened at once eager 
expectation, and all eyes were directed towards the newcomer. 
When at length the vessel sailed into the island harbor and the 
anchor was dropped, John Winter, we may well believe, was at 
the vessel's side and among the first to receive the tidings that she 
brought from the old England whence she came. How, we shall 
never know ; but in some way, either by word of mouth, or by 
letter whose seal was hastily broken, John Winter heard of the 

1 History of the Rebellion, folio ed., I, 349. 

2 Trelawny Papers, 321, 322. 



346 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

blow that had fallen upon Robert Trelawny, and there was opened 
to him suddenly such a vision of conditions in England as he had 
not even dreamed of before. He had supposed that things were 
going "well", as Trelawny wrote. That they were not going 
as he would have them, he now clearly saw; and from that time 
John Winter walked under a shadow that darkened the rest of his 
days. 

Possibly Winter found some encouragement in the thought that 
Trelawny 's friends might be able in a short time to secure his 
release, and that business relations between Plymouth and Rich- 
mond's island might still be maintained. Indeed, by a petition 
addressed to the House of Commons, November 23, 1642, Tre- 
lawny attempted to secure his release. Evidently he had no 
political purposes in view, yet favorable action did not follow. In 
fact, in denying the petitioner's request, the Commons ordered 
that Robert Trelawny should be committed to Winchester House 
— the old bishop's palace at Winchester, then devoted by Parlia- 
ment to prison uses — "there to remain during the pleasure of the 
House". 1 In all probability this was the second imprisonment to 
which Lord Clarendon referred in his mention of the Trelawny 
case. March 22, 1643, Trelawny presented to the House of Com- 
mons a second petition for his release, the petitioner expressing 
his readiness to furnish bail ; but this added request was also 
refused. 2 

Among the Trelawny Papers there are Richmond's island 
accounts from July 10, 1641, to the last of June, 1643. 3 Evidently 
in those years Winter continued to care for the Trelawny interests 
as hitherto, for the accounts show it ; but they show just as clearly 
that these were years in which business at the island, once so pros- 
perous, had greatly declined. It was under discouraging circum- 
stances, therefore, that Winter continued his labors. Then, too, 
the tidings that from time to time reached the island from England 

1 Journal of the House of Commons, II, 854. 

2 lb., Ill, 14. 

3 Trelawny Papers, 323-335, 344-362. 



ROBERT JORDAN AS WINTER'S SUCCESSOR. 347 

were in no wise cheering. Trelawny's wife, a few days after the 
refusal of her husband's first petition for release, died at the Tre- 
lawny residence at Ham, and was laid to rest in the Trelawny 
vault in St. Andrew's Church, Plymouth. Depressed by this 
affliction, also by failing health, Robert Trelawny made his last 
will and testament August 24, 1643, a codicil following February 
23, 1644. 1 Doubtless life had lost all attractions for him, and not 
long after, certainly before the end of the year, he closed his 
career behind prison bars, and was buried no one knows when or 
where. 

As one thinks of Robert Trelawny's sad and lonely death, the 
lines of an old ballad have a new application : 
"And shall Trelawny die? 

And shall Trelawny die ? 

Forty thousand Cornishmen 

Will know the reason why." 

The ballad belongs to a later date than 1644, and its question has 
no reference to Robert Trelawny. If, however, the twice repeated 
question still rings in our ears as we recall Trelawny's sad end, 
and think of his unknown grave, it is to be remembered that war, 
even now, when so much is done to mitigate its evils, is a "dreaded 
instrument", and that civil war is the worst of all wars. Robert 
Trelawny suffered, as many another on both sides in the civil 
war in England suffered, suffering even unto death, and there 
were few, if any, to ask the reason why. 

After the death of Robert Trelawny, business at Richmond's 
island still further declined. The Trelawny interests there, how- 
ever, were maintained, so far as can now be ascertained by John 
King, a merchant of London. An interesting glimpse of Winter 
and his family about this time is afforded in a letter from Winter 
to his married daughter, Mary Hooper, living in England. It is 
dated Richmond's island, June 13, 1644. Winter had not then 
heard of Robert Trelawny's death, for in his letter he informs his 
daughter that he had directed Mr. Robert Trelawny to pay her 

1 Trelawny Papers, 450-456. 



348 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

fifteen pounds, "i pray demand it of him' ' , he wrote ; ' 'whereof 
five pounds of it is a token from me sent unto you in token of my 
fatherly love unto you ; forty shillings of it is a token sent unto 
you from your mother ; the other eight pound is for your sister 
Sara, whereof six pound of it she desired you would bestow in 
linen cloth for her of these sorts : some cloth of three quarters 
and half quarter broad, and some of it for neck cloths, and other 
some for pillow cloths, for she is now providing to keep a house. 
She hath been married this five months to one Mr. Robert Jordan, 
which is our minister. The other forty shillings she doth send 
unto you for a token". 1 

When this letter was written, Winter was evidently enjoying a 
measure of health calling for grateful mention. In all probability, 
however, it was not long continued. Trelawny's death, under 
circumstances so peculiar and distressing, doubtless laid upon 
Winter a heavy burden of sorrow, and may have hastened his own 
death. It is known only that sickness at length compelled him 
to withdraw from his usual occupations, and that some time in 
the year 1645, probably near the close of the year, Winter died, 
and was buried on the island which he made the center of Tre- 
lawny's interests in the province. 

In the above quotation from Winter's letter, there is a state- 
ment that enables us to ascertain approximately the time when 
Robert Jordan married Sarah Winter. It was early in January, 
1644. As Robert Jordan came to Richmond's island in 1641, 2 it 
cannot be said that he made an early surrender to the charms of 
John Winter's daughter. The Trelawny Papers show that he was 
more expeditious, however, in placing himself on Winter's side in 
his attitude toward George Cleeve ; for only a little more than a 
year after reaching the island and entering upon his religious 
work, Jordan addressed a letter 3 to Robert Trelawny in which he 
represented himself as "employed at the request of Mr. Winter" 

1 Trelawny Papers, 363. 

2 lb., 287. 

3 lb., 314-320. 



ROBERT JORDAN AS WINTER'S SUCCESSOR. 349 

in the actions entered upon between him "and crafty Mr. Cleeve", 
and expressed the hope that Trelawny would look upon him "as 
a faithful agent therein". The letter shows that Jordan already 
not only had made himself familiar with Winter's aims and pur- 
poses in his contentions with George Cleeve, but had thrown him- 
self into the conflict with no less energy and far greater ability 
than John Winter possessed. He was not satisfied with a court 
decision that had recognized Cleeve's rightful possession of 
Machegonne. The verdict, he says, was "contrary to evidence", 
and when the matter came up again and was settled by arbitration 
in Cleeve's favor, Jordan, in making known this result to Tre- 
lawny, says the decision did not seem to him "to be reasonable 
law nor conscience", so completely thus early had he taken posi- 
tion as an ardent ally of Winter. 

After John Winter's death, Robert Jordan, as Winter's son-in- 
law, took charge of the business interests at Richmond's island 
and vicinity. Those interests, as already mentioned, had declined 
before Winter's death. The period of decline continued. Neither 
fishing nor trading vessels came hither as formerly, and the scat- 
tered settlers anxiously awaited the issue of the civil war in Eng- 
land. So far as is known, the Trelawny heirs made no attempt 
whatever to look after their interests here. Probably the political 
upheaval in England at that time may account in part for this 
neglect. Then, too, it is to be remembered that John Trelawny, 
Robert Trelawny's son and heir, was less than ten years of age 
when his father died, and the duty of caring for his American 
interests rested upon those who had affairs of their own that 
engrossed their attention. Certainly, those who should have 
given thought and attention to Trelawny's interests on this side 
of the sea failed to do so, and so gave occasion for feelings at 
least of regret that have continued to find expression in the 
descendants of Robert Trelawny in successive generations to the 
present time. 

This neglect was not overlooked by Robert Jordan. He knew 
the value of those interests, and saw the opportunity opening 



350 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

before him for acquiring in his own right the shore privileges and 
extensive territory covered by the Trelawny patent. As the 
executor of the estate of John Winter, Jordan attempted to open 
communication with Robert Trelawny' s executors. This was a 
matter of considerable importance as from an examination of 
Winter's accounts it appeared that Trelawny was largely indebted 
to Winter. But Jordan's letters to the Trelawny executors 
brought no reply. Of course reply should have been made. If 
on account of the political crisis in Bngland, and the business dis- 
turbances arising therefrom, the Trelawny executors were unable 
at that time to undertake the settlement of these accounts, they 
should have said so, and asked for delay until a more favorable 
opportunity should present itself. On the contrary, they adopted 
an attitude of silence, and Winter's estate remained unsettled, 
doubtless to the dissatisfaction of all parties concerned. 

It was in this condition of things at Richmond's island that 
Cleeve, as deputy president of the Province of I^ygonia, succeeded 
in securing the support of those who, after the death of Winter 
and the departure of Vines to Barbadoes, had been his most 
strenuous and even bitter opponents. Recognizing their defeat, 
and the importance of establishing law and order in the scattered 
settlements within the limits of the province, they laid aside their 
individual opinions and prejudices, accepted office in the new 
government and for awhile labored with Cleeve and his adherents 
for the advancement of common interests. In the court records 
of that period are documents signed by George Cleeve, Henry 
Josselyn and Robert Jordan, judges of the Province of I,ygonia, 
and sitting side by side in harmonious relations. 1 

September 22, 1648, or about three years after Winter's death, 
Robert Jordan, having received from Trelawny 's executors no 
response to his letters, presented a petition to the president, 
deputy president and the general assembly of the Province of 
I^ygonia, in which he called attention to "his desperate condi- 
tion". As the executor of the estate of John Winter, he had 

1 Early Records of Maine, I, 121. 



ROBERT JORDAN AS WINTER'S SUCCESSOR. 351 

"emptied himself of his proper estate" in order to pay the lega- 
cies mentioned in Winter's will. Trelawny, at the time of his 
death, he said, was greatly indebted to Winter. Indeed, the larger 
part of Winter's estate, he claimed, was in the hands of the Tre- 
lawny executors ; but though by ' 'persuasive letters' ' he had urged 
a settlement on their part, he had received no reply, and was left 
"without hope of any timely recovery" of what was due Winter 
from the Trelawny estate. Nor was this all. ' 'Their intentions 
in appearance", he added, "are to deprive your petitioner of what 
he hath in his hands in common employment with them, and so to 
forbear all satisfaction of dues until the heir of the said Trelawny 
(being now about seven or eight years old) shall come to full age' ' . 
The result, he said, would be "the destruction of your petitioner 
and his whole family". It would also be to "the prejudice of 
this growing commonwealth"; while if the petitioner "could 
obtain his rights", it was his desire "to employ his estate to the 
furtherance of public good, from which he is now disenabled". 
Jordan, therefore, asked for an examination of Winter's accounts 
by committee or otherwise, and that ' 'upon the inventory thereof ' , 
the petitioner might have "secured and sequestered unto himself 
and for his singular use, what he hath of the said Trelawny in his 
hands, or at least so much as you shall find due from him to the 
petitioner' ' .* 

Robert Jordan's "proper estate" when he came to Richmond's 
island could not have been large, and, if we may infer from the 
meager pay credited to him in Winter's accounts, it is not likely 
that he was able to increase it while serving as minister at the 
island and in the vicinity. In paying Winter's bequests, there- 
fore — it is not known what they were, as Winter's will has not 
come down to us — any small amount would have drawn heavily 
upon Mr. Jordan's resources. Accordingly, the statement of his 
impoverishment is not to be taken seriously. Evidently, in mak- 
ing the statement, the petitioner had in view the members of the 
general assembly, and it was plainly his desire to set before them 

1 Trelawny Papers, 365-368. 



352 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

at the outset as impressively as possible this view of his ' 'desperate 
condition". 

The petition, as may be inferred, was one in which the mem- 
bers of the general assembly of the province were much interested. 
With Trelawny's territory and interests in the possession of Rob- 
ert Jordan, they were persuaded that improvement in business mat- 
ters would follow not only at Richmond's island, but in the neigh- 
boring settlements. The petition was readily granted, and George 
Cleeve, William Royall, Richard Foxwell and Henry Watts, were 
appointed a committee to examine Winter's accounts as requested ; 
also to report at the next meeting of the assembly "the state of 
the thing petitioned for' ' } 

The members of the committee proceeded to Richmond's island 
as directed and examined Winter's accounts, on which Jordan's 
claims rested. At the examination, the Trelawny heirs were not 
represented, and in all probability they had no such notice of the 
action of the assembly as would enable them to be represented. 
Indeed it is not known that they received any notice. The action 
of the assembly occurred September 12, 1648, and December 18, 
following, the committee having reported, 2 it was ordered by the 
assembly 3 that it should be lawful for the petitioner, "Robert 
Jordan, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, to retain, 
occupy to his and their proper use and profit, to convert all the 
goods, lands, cattle and chattels belonging to Robert Trelawny, 
deceased, within this province, from this day forward and forever 
against any claim or demand whatsoever by what party or parties 
soever". 

In this way the Trelawny territory and the Trelawny interests 
on this side of the sea came into the immediate legal possession of 
Robert Jordan. In the order adopted by the assembly it was 
indeed added that the executors of Robert Trelawny should have 
the privilege of redeeming and releasing the Trelawny goods, 

1 Trelawny Papers, 369. 

2 lb., 377-383. 
8 lb., 370, 371. 



ROBERT JORDAN AS WINTER'S SUCCESSOR. 353 

lands, etc., "by the consent and allowance of the said Robert 
Jordan, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns". This 
redemption clause in the order, however, offered little hope to the 
Trelawny heirs. Robert Jordan and his successors, placed in 
possession of the Trelawny territory and interests in the Province 
of I,ygonia, were likely to hold them, as was made to appear in 
the further unfoldings of proceedings with reference to Trelawny 's 
American estate. 

The order of the assembly giving Jordan possession of Tre- 
lawny' s lands was signed by George Cleeve as deputy president 
of the Province of L,ygonia. In his conflicts with Winter, Cleeve, 
in Robert Jordan, had found Winter's ablest and most resourceful 
ally ; and in placing Jordan in such a position of power and influ- 
ence as that which he now came to occupy he exhibited great 
repression of personal feeling. Under the circumstances he doubt- 
less thought it was for the general good that such a settlement 
should be made. He had occasion, however, to regret this action 
during the remainder of his troubled life. Reference has already 
been made to Winter's claim that Trelawny 's patent embraced 
Machegonne, or Casco Neck, as the place came to be called. The 
claim was finally settled in court in Cleeve's favor. But Jordan, 
not long after he came into the possession of the Trelawny acres, 
furnished evidence that he had not forgotten this former claim in 
which he had supported Winter; and he at length commenced 
proceedings of an artful kind by which, having obtained the privi- 
lege of erecting a saw-mill on the Presumpscot river, he asserted 
a prior claim based on his possession of Trelawny 's patent. More 
and more heavily Cleeve was now made to feel the blows that were 
struck by his younger antagonist. 

The story of the wrongs that Cleeve suffered because of Jordan's 
efforts to maintain his claim to Casco Neck is a long one, and 
involves transactions extending beyond the limits of the period 
under review in this volume. Cleeve sought to obtain redress for 
his wrongs, but the death of Colonel Rigby, in 1650, deprived 
him of needed support. During the Commonwealth and the Pro- 
23 



354 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

tectorate, Massachusetts, having interests here of her own, was not 
inclined to listen to the contentions of rival claimants within her 
newly acquired jurisdiction. After the restoration of Charles II, 
added efforts on the part of Cleeve were useless. In fact, the 
king's commissioners, who came hither at the request of the royal- 
ist party in Maine for the purpose of advancing royalist interests 
in the province, declared the grants of territory made by Cleeve, 
on authority derived from Rigby, to be null and void. In this 
way all hope of redress was extinguished ; and not long after the 
announcement of this decision Cleeve found in the grave that 
peace of which he had known so little in his long and troubled 
life. 1 

Some time after the death of John Winter, Robert Jordan 
removed his family to the mainland and made his residence at 
Spurwink. Having yielded unwilling obedience to the authority 
of the Massachusetts bay colony, he was one of those who, on the 

1 ' 'George Cleeve has been criticised adversely by several writers who have 
been hasty in forming opinions based upon the careless remarks of a careless 
writer, or upon an insufficient study of his acts. In a time when men of 
upright lives were charged with wrong doing, the social conditions amid 
which they lived making such charges easy, the character of Cleeve appears 
exceptionally clean. Every charge on record against him has been noted 
in this brief account of his life and times, that the reader might be able to 
form an independent judgment of the correctness of this statement, by com- 
parison of his record with that of his contemporaries who have been com- 
mended for moral attainments by their biographers. That he was a man of 
great energy and perseverance, ready to take advantage of an opponent when 
in conflict ; aye, more, an ambitious and selfish man to the degree that most 
men since his time have been, we may justly admit. Such qualities, some 
of which are not consonant with the ideal Christian character, have been 
possessed by successful and honored men of all times, and, we may not 
uncharitably suppose are possessed by such men even in this more enlight- 
ened day ; but that he was an immoral or dishonest man we may not justly 
admit ; indeed, we may claim after a careful examination of such facts as 
have been preserved relating to his character, in connection with the tur- 
bulent times in which he played his part, that he stood morally above the 
average of the people about him." Baxter, George Cleeve, 210,211. With 
Mr. Baxter's estimate of the character of George Cleeve, the writer of this 
volume is in entire agreement. 



ROBERT JORDAN AS WINTER'S SUCCESSOR. 355 

restoration of Charles II, sought the king's assistance in establish- 
ing new governmental relations in the province, and with Josselyn 
and others of the royalist party was indicted in 1663 by the 
Massachusetts grand jury for renouncing the authority of the Bay 
colony. The arrival of the king's commissioners in the province 
in 1665 revived the hopes of Jordan and his royalist associates ; 
but it was only for a while. By prudent management in her rela- 
tions with the province, and also with the governmental party in 
England, Massachusetts succeeded in maintaining her authority, 
and opposition at length ceased. 

In the second Indian war, Jordan left his home at Spurwink 
and established his residence at Great Island, now Newcastle, N. 
H., where he died in 1679. Through his will, 1 which has come 
down to us, we get a glimpse of the broad lands that came into 
his possession by order of the general assembly of the province. 
To his wife, Sarah, he bequeathed three thousand acres, and to 
his sons, Dominicus, Jedediah and Samuel, he bequeathed thirty- 
one hundred acres. Repeated efforts at length were made by the 
Trelawny heirs to obtain possession of this large territory, but all 
their efforts were unsuccessful; so that "owing partly to many 
long minorities, or to the feeble and desultory manner in which 
the claims had been followed up, their posterity, under the statute 
of limitation, became debarred from all further attempt at recov- 
ery' ' . 2 This fact, however, has not destroyed the interest of the 
Trelawny heirs in matters connected with their family history 
here. As an evidence of their "Christian love and good will", 
they have presented to the Maine Historical Society, in recent 
years, the valuable, indeed priceless Trelawny Papers, which so 
often have been referred to in these pages, and which furnish so 
much information concerning affairs and conditions connected 
with the beginnings of colonial Maine. 

1 York Deeds. 

2 Trelawny Papers, Memoir, page xxviii. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Massachusetts Claims Mains Territory. 

AT the close of the first half of the seventeenth century what 
is now the State of Maine included four distinct territorial 
divisions. The first was the comparatively small tract of 
country between the Piscataqua and Kennebunk rivers, the only 
remaining part of Sir Ferdinando Gorges' royal Province of Maine. 
The second division comprised the territory confirmed to Colonel 
Alexander Rigby after his purchase of the I^ygonia or Plough 
patent, and known as the Province of I^ygonia, extending from 
the Kennebunk river to the Kennebec. East of the Kennebec, 
forming the third division, was the tract of country that may be 
designated as the Sagadahoc territory, situated between the Ken- 
nebec and the Penobscot rivers. A fourth division, extending 
from the Penobscot eastward as far as the St. Croix river, was 
claimed by the French as included within their territorial limits. 
References to this claim occur in some of the preceding chapters. 
The claim itself reappears in the commission bestowed upon 
Aulnay by Louis XIV in February, 1647, the western boundary 
of France upon the Atlantic coast being carried in that commis- 
sion "as much and as far as can be as far as the Virginias". 1 At 
that time the word "Virginias" was used as a designation of New 
England, and "Virginias" doubtless had that signification in 
Aulnay 's commission. The rightfulness of the French claim was 
denied in England and by the English colonists on the American 
coast, and the determination to maintain England's right to the 
territory in dispute found frequent and forceful expression as has 
already appeared. 

When the first half of the seventeenth century drew to a close, 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 262. 






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MASSACHUSETTS CLAIMS MAINE TERRITORY. 357 

however, neither England nor the English colonists on the Atlan- 
tic seaboard were in a condition to maintain their territorial 
claims in opposition to the claims of France. The attempt to 
establish in England a new form of government, to take the place 
of that under which the people of England hath hitherto lived, 
was a work that was pressing and demanded the strongest possible 
endeavors on the part of those upon whom the arduous task now 
fell. The claim of England in opposition to the claim of France, 
however, was not yielded, but matters pertaining to territorial 
rights were for the present held in abeyance. 

In the first three of these territorial divisions there was growth 
in the half century, but it was slow. Help that should have 
come to the colonists was not received. Gorges, the one domi- 
nant figure in the effort to develop colonial interests within these 
limits, was a strenuous supporter of Charles and the royal prerog- 
atives. Moreover, he had no sympathy with those who were 
opposed to the king and had brought about the great upheaval in 
which the king's overthrow was accomplished. The strong Puri- 
tan movement exerted no influence upon his wishes and hopes. 
What he desired to see, and what he aimed to create in his colon- 
izing efforts, was a New England, of which he, as governor gen- 
eral, should be the head. If Charles had yielded in his conflict 
with Parliament, and there had been no civil war in England, 
Gorges might have accomplished his purpose and have aided 
Archbishop I^aud in his endeavor to establish the Anglican Church 
in New England. But Charles did not yield, and the civil war in 
its onward progress resulted in the destruction not only of the 
king's despotic rule, but of Gorges' feudal visions. 

The death of Gorges not only removed the strong support on 
which the royalist party in the Province of Maine had leaned, 
but it brought bewilderment to the settlers in the province's 
diminished territory. At first only rumors of Sir Ferdinando's 
death were received by the colonists ; but as soon as the tidings 
were confirmed, in their trouble and anxiety they endeavored to 
put themselves in communication with the heirs of Gorges in 



358 THE) BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE- 

order to obtain information with reference to their future inter- 
ests. Would the form of government under which they had 
hitherto lived be continued ? If it should be continued, by whom 
would its affairs be managed? Moreover, was it to be expected 
that such a government and administration would be acceptable 
to Parliament ? These and other inquiries must have been made 
in 1647 and 1648, but they elicited no replies. Their failure in 
seeking information they attributed to "the sad distractions in 
En gland"; and certainly conditions there were such as to afford 
little opportunity for the heirs of Gorges to give any attention to 
matters in the far-away Province of Maine. In order, therefore, 
that there might be consultation and consideration with reference 
to matters of such vital interest in the province, Edward Godfrey, 
whom Thomas Gorges left in charge of the Gorges interests on 
his return to England in 1643, and who was still the leading 
spirit in the province, united with the other officers of the Gorges 
proprietary in calling the inhabitants of Piscataqua, Gorgeana 
and Wells to assemble at Gorgeana in July, 1649. Such an 
assembly was held, and after full and free discussion it was agreed 
to enter into a "combination" or social compact for the purpose of 
securing such a form of government as would enable the colonists 
to manage their provincial affairs until ' 'further order, power and 
authority shall come out of England"; binding themselves "to 
see these parts of the country and province regulated according to 
such laws as formerly have been exercised and such others as 
shall be thought meet, not repugnant to the fundamental laws of 
our native country". 1 

It was then also agreed "to make choice of such governor or 
governors and magistrates as by most voices they shall think 
meet." In the election that followed Edward Godfrey received 
the "most voices" for the office of governor, and thus became the 
first governor elected by the people in what is now the State of 
Maine. Those who had assisted Godfrey in administering the 
affairs of the province in the preceding year were also elected to 

1 Farnham Papers, I, 266. 



MASSACHUSETTS CLAIMS MAINE TERRITORY. 359 

fill the offices they had hitherto held. Under the organization 
thus effected, the governmental affairs of the colonists between the 
Piscataqua and the Kennebunk rivers were continued as hitherto. 
All the while, however, existing conditions in England were kept 
steadily in view, and with the change in the form of government 
there following the death of Charles I, regarding themselves as 
still holding to recognized authority in the country whence they 
came, the inhabitants of the province adjusted themselves to the 
new order of things in England and wisely and prudently awaited 
the further unfolding of events. 

Very different in the Province of Eygonia was the effect of the 
death of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. It is true that men like Jos- 
selyn and Jordan were in sympathy with the Gorges interests and 
in their attachment to those interests they shared the views of 
Godfrey and his associates. But they had recognized Rigby's 
authority as the proprietor of the Eygonia patent, and had accepted 
office in connection with the administration of provincial affairs, 
which were in no wise affected by Gorges' death. When, how- 
ever, tidings reached the province of the death of Rigby, which 
occurred in London suddenly, unexpectedly, August 18, 1650, a 
new situation presented itself. All along the relations of Josselyn 
and others to the L,ygonia government were not of their liking. 
Their association with Cleeve, the deputy president of the prov- 
ince, was for prudential reasons only. If an opportunity should 
open for a change in these relations, there was no reason in their 
view why they should not avail themselves of it ; and such an 
opportunity they recognized on receiving information of the death 
of the proprietor and president of the Province of I^ygonia. 

Their action, however, was not hasty. In all probability they 
held open and secret meetings for consultation. Doubtless their 
public utterances indicated a desire for any change that would 
bring the Rigby authority to an end. But there is no evidence 
that on the part of Josselyn, Jordan and others there was any 
attempt to set up in place of the existing government such an 
independent government as was organized by the inhabitants of 



360 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

the Province of Maine. Their leanings in no wise were toward 
democracy. On the other hand, Cleeve and those who were in 
agreement with him desired as a settlement of recognized difficul- 
ties a confirmation of the Rigby authority by Parliament. This 
was indicated in a petition to Parliament prepared by Cleeve and 
having such a confirmation in view. Similar action was desired 
by the inhabitants of the Province of Maine, as already men- 
tioned. 

Undoubtedly, in this movement on the part of the general court 
of the Province of Maine, there was co-operation with Cleeve and 
those of the Province of I,ygonia in agreement with him, not 
only as a petition with reference to L,ygonia interests was pre- 
pared by Cleeve having the same end in view, but especially as 
Cleeve was the bearer of both petitions, when he sailed for Eng- 
land, probably not long after. Of the leading men in both prov- 
inces Cleeve unquestionably was the best fitted for the service 
required. His connection with the Rigby interests and his sym- 
pathy with the parliamentary party in the struggle through which 
England had passed in the preceding years, gave him easy access 
to those whose assistance he sought. First of all, on his arrival, 
he placed himself in communication with the heirs of Baron 
Rigby, and hastened to set before them an account of existing 
conditions in both of the provinces which he represented, and at 
the same time the perils with which they were threatened. 
Doubtless among the perils, so far as the Province of Lygonia 
was concerned, Cleeve mentioned the attitude of Josselyn and 
others. But the peril to which he especially called attention was 
occasioned by the encroachments of Massachusetts. In the pre- 
ceding decade, the Bay colony had gradually extended its jurisdic- 
tion over the New Hampshire settlements. Now, in the disturbed 
state of feeling north of the Piscataqua, it was the evident purpose 
of the Massachusetts authorities to extend their jurisdiction still 
farther up the coast so as to include the territory over which 
Gorges and Rigby had exercised proprietorship. This is made to 
appear in a paper in the Records Office in L,ondon, in which it is 



MASSACHUSETTS CLAIMS MAINE TERRITORY. 361 

stated that in 1652, Edward Rigby, the son and heir of Colonel 
Alexander Rigby, joined with the heirs of Gorges and other pat- 
entees of Maine and New Hampshire in a petition to Parliament 
for relief from such encroachments. Doubtless the reference is to 
the petitions to Parliament brought by Cleeve; and from the 
paper mentioned it would seem that Rigby, in uniting with the 
petitioners, resented the action of Massachusetts as hostile to the 
Gorges and Rigby interests. Inasmuch as there is no further 
information concerning these petitions, it is reasonable to suppose 
that the influential and watchful representatives of Massachusetts 
in London succeeded in defeating the efforts of Cleeve and his 
friends in their effort to secure parliamentary action. 

While Cleeve was in England, he seems to have made a favorable 
impression upon Edward Rigby. The latter not only approved 
Cleeve' s attitude toward Josselyn and others, who were endeavor- 
ing to bring the Province of Maine and the Province of Lygonia 
under one government as in the earlier period under the Gorges 
proprietary, but he increased Cleeve' s land-holdings by adding one 
thousand acres to the territory already granted to him. More- 
over, he addressed a letter to the opponents of Cleeve, upbraiding 
them for their wrongs and abuses and demanding that both they 
and others, who had taken office under his father, should cease 
further activity in administrative relations as their commissions 
expired with his father's death. He expressed sorrow that they 
"should still act so directly" against his father's and his interests 
as they did, and insisted that they should no longer continue their 
"private and secret combinations", but should join with him, and 
his deputy and other officers, for the peace and quiet of the prov- 
ince. He closed the letter with the declaration that he should 
strive to do equal justice in all things, and to this end he informed 
them that "with all convenient speed" he should not only send 
back Mr. Cleeve but a near kinsman of his own with instructions 
and commissions to such as he deemed fitting to receive them, not 
doubting that upon the receipt of his communication those 
addressed would desist from their former illegal proceedings and 



362 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

join with those to whom he should send commissions, adding the 
assurance that with the letter went "the respects of him that is 
your real friend if yourselves be not your own enemies". 1 

The letter furnishes us not only with information concerning 
Edward Rigby's knowledge of affairs connected with the Province 
of L,ygonia, but at the same time it gives us such a glimpse of the 
writer himself as can be obtained nowhere else. Indirectly, also, 
the letter is a tribute to the character of George Cleeve ; for it 
was of Edward Rigby that Roger Williams, in a letter to John 
Winthrop, Jr., governor of Connecticut, sent this message about 
a year and a half later : "We have sound [rumor] of a general 
governor [of New England], and that Baron Rigby's son is the 
man". 2 That George Cleeve, in his position as deputy president, 
and now in repeated personal interviews, should have impressed 
such a man as Edward Rigby so favorably and so strongly as to 
continue him in office, furnishes certainly no slight testimony to 
the ability and character of George Cleeve. 

The time for Cleeve's return had not been fixed when Rigby's 
letter was written. In fact, Cleeve lingered in England some 
time, doubtless in hope that added efforts might yet secure par- 
liamentary aid in behalf of the interests that he represented. The 
exact date of his return is unknown, but there are documents in 
the Massachusetts archives from which information is derived that 
he landed in Boston in September, 1653. s 

During Cleeve's absence in England, Massachusetts had con- 
tinued earlier efforts to extend her jurisdiction northward. This 
was in accordance with a purpose suggested by the death of 
Mason, and was greatly strengthened by the success of the Puri- 
tan revolution in England. These successes, it was believed, had 
not only been destructive to the establishment of royalist and 
Church of England authority in New England, but had opened 
the way for Puritan ascendancy in the same territory. These 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 284-286. 

2 Mass Hist. Society's Coll., Fourth Series, VI, 260. 
8 Baxter, George Cleeve, 161, 162, 287, 288. 



MASSACHUSETTS CLAIMS MAINE TERRITORY. 363 

efforts on the part of the Massachusetts authorities were now 
encouraged by political strife and the lack of law and order north 
of the Piscataqua. In the scattered settlements there were those 
who desired to see an end of the conditions under which they had 
lived so long. Some of them had visited the comparatively strong 
and prosperous communities in the Bay, and were familiar with 
the more favorable conditions under which the colonists there 
lived. It was but natural, therefore, that from time to time 
strong expressions on their part for the possession of like benefits 
and governmental regulation should find their way to the Massa- 
chusetts settlements. 

Up to this time, however, Massachusetts does not seem to have 
given much attention, if any, to the provisions of her charter with 
reference to the northern boundary of the colony. In 1651, how- 
ever, Joseph Mason, a kinsman of Captain John Mason (to whom 
in 1635 the grant of New Hampshire was confirmed), came over 
to New England in the interest of the widow of his deceased rela- 
tive. Finding Richard Leader in possession of land on the 
Newichwannock (Salmon Falls) river, 1 he brought an action for 
trespass against Reader in the Norfolk county court, then in ses- 
sion at Salisbury, Mass. At the trial the defendant, Leader, held 
that the lands in question were not within the limits of Massa- 
chusetts territory, and on the point thus raised the court declined 
to rule and referred the matter to the general court of the colony 
at its annual session in May, 1652. 2 

In the records of the colony, under date of May 31, 1652, this 
entry appears : "On perusal of our charter, it was this day voted 
by the whole court, that the extent of the [boundary] line is to 
be from the northermost part of the river Merrimack and three 
miles more north, where it is to be found, be it an hundred miles 
more or less from the sea, and thence upon a straight line east 

1 For Mason's protest against Reader's possession, see Jenness' New 
Hampshire Documents, 38. 
2 See Massachusetts Archives, 38, 70, 71. 



364 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE). 

and west to each sea ; and this to be the true interpretation of the 
terms of the limit northward granted in the patent". 1 

It is not easy to follow the members of the general court in thus 
arriving at "an interpretation of the terms of the limit" of their 
territory northward. The charter gave the Bay colony "all those 
lands and hereditaments whatsoever, which lie and be within the 
space of three English miles to the northward of the said river, 
called Monomack alias Merrimack, or to the northward of any 
and every part thereof". 2 If the language of the charter with 
reference to the northern boundary of the colony embraced these 
words only, the members of the general court would have found 
little if any basis for the interpretation they made and recorded. 
Their boundary line, as thus described, started on the Atlantic 
coast three miles north of the mouth of the Merrimac river, and 
followed the windings of the river, at the same distance from the 
river, to its source, or to a point three miles north of its source. 
But the charter description of the northern boundary of the colony 
does not end with the words now cited. Immediately following 
are added words that make the territory of the colony to include 
"all lands and hereditaments whatsoever, lying within the limits 
aforesaid, north and south in latitude and breadth, and in length 
and longitude, of and within all the breadth aforesaid, throughout 
the main lands there, from the Atlantic and Western sea and 
ocean on the east part to the South sea on the west part' ' . s Those 
who wrote these words evidently attempted by them to indicate 
more definitely the northern boundary of the colony's territory; 
but their knowledge of the country was exceedingly defective, 
and the words they used convey no clear meaning. Accordingly, 
as the words needed interpretation, the members of the general 
court, finding in the boundary designated such words as "length" 
and "breadth", "latitude" and "longitude", "north" and 
"south", "east part" and "west part", used them as helps to a 

1 Records of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, III, 274. 

2 Hazard, I, 243. 
8 lb., I, 243. 



MASSACHUSETTS CLAIMS MAINE TERRITORY. 365 

decision and evidently found in them the interpretation their 
perusal suggested, and which made the northern boundary of the 
colony a straight line east and west from a point three miles north 
of the source of the Merrimac river. 

Before this time, evidently, Massachusetts had not given any 
particular attention to her northern boundary as described in her 
charter. 1 In extending her jurisdiction over the New Hampshire 
communities north of the Merrimac she had not asserted charter 
rights. That movement was designed to meet certain needs fol- 
lowing the death of Mason, an event that left the territory between 
the Merrimac and the Piscataqua without governmental oversight 
and protection. But while such needs existed to a like extent, if 
not a greater, in the Maine provinces, other and more forceful 
reasons now influenced the general court in attempting a still far- 
ther advance up the coast. There had been a time, and that not 
far away, when royalist and Church of England designs had seri- 
ously threatened the Bay colony's existence. While for the most 
part these designs had their origin in the mother country, they 
were fostered by some of the more prominent settlers north of the 
Piscataqua, themselves royalists and members of the English 
church. But political conditions in England, as the result of the 
civil war, had not only allayed all fear of harmful assaults from 
across the sea, but at the same time had opened the way for such 
an advance into Maine territory as would strengthen and make 
dominant Puritan influences in New England. Indeed, it is not 
improbable that the members of the general court even before 

1 In the earlier years of the colony there was no need of examining the 
charter -with reference to boundary lines. Naturally the colonists devoted 
themselves to the work of establishing comfortable homes, and providing 
means of support. But, in 1652, prosperous settlements had been developed. 
Those who founded and established them had purposes that ripened fast and 
stopped short of nothing less than the building up of a New England, which 
should be neither feudal nor monarchical, but a democracy — "an incorporated 
group of individuals seeking in a new country a permanent home and an 
opportunity of worshipping God in their own way". C. M. Andrews, The 
Colonial Period, 66. 



366 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

their perusal of their charter had reached clear and definite pur- 
poses with reference to their boundary claim, and these the char- 
ter strengthened. Men generally find what they seek. At all 
events in their perusal of the charter the Massachusetts magis- 
trates found what they desired to find, and their interpretation of 
their charter with reference to their northern boundary was an 
important aid in securing the accomplishment of their purposes. 

In this advance into Maine territory ambition on the part of 
Massachusetts is not to be denied. But it was not a low, sordid 
ambition. It was an ambition that sought fairly and squarely the 
betterment 1 of existing conditions, and aimed to give to Maine 
settlers the same measure of prosperity that the Bay colonists 
themselves enjoyed. Nearly a century ago a son of Maine, who 
had made its history a careful study, placed on record these words : 
"if Massachusetts were actuated by motives of ambition in this 
enlargement of her borders, and the adoption of these plantations, 
it must be acknowledged she guided her measures by maxims of 
prudence, and manifested great assiduity and zeal for the good 
of the inhabitants so eagerly adopted". 2 Half a century later, 
another son of Maine, also deeply interested in the history of his 
native state, and receiving its highest honors for his educational, 
military and other services, in reviewing this action of Massachu- 
setts, justified that action on the ground of necessity, "it was 
necessary", he said, "that Massachusetts should control Maine". 
Such a necessity he found in the fact that this added territory was 
needed in order "to ward off her enemies, Churchmen, French- 
men, Indians". 3 All this is true, but it is not the whole truth. 
Not only was it necessary that Massachusetts should provide for 
self-defence, but for growth and expansion. The planting of 
Massachusetts meant the planting of New England. In time the 

1 "Massachusetts was never mean. She was square and bold. You could 
always see her coming; and tell what she was after." J. I/. Chamberlain, 
Maine : her Place in History, 59. 

2 Williamson, History of the State of Maine, I, 356. 

3 Maine : her Place in History, 58, 67. 



MASSACHUSETTS CLAIMS MAINE TERRITORY. 367 

colony was to become a commonwealth, a nation, and Maine was 
needed in the development already in progress. 

Massachusetts lost no time in entering upon the undertaking 
"for the better discovery" of the north line of the colony's terri- 
tory ; and on the same day when her interpretation of the boun- 
daries of the charter was announced, the general court appointed 
Captain Simon Willard and Captain Edward Johnson commis- 
sioners, with "such artists and other associates" as they desired 
' 'to find out the most northerly part of Merrimack river' ' . By 
their instructions they were required to use ' 'their utmost skill 
and ability to take a true observation of the latitude of that place' ' , 
and they were to make a return thereof at the next session of the 
court. 1 

As "artists and other assistants" in the task thus assigned to 
them, the Massachusetts commissioners selected ' John Sherman, 
sergeant at Watertown, and Jonathan Ince, student at Harvard 
College", and they, with the commissioners, proceeded to the 
source of the Merrimac river. This they found at Aquedahian 
where the river "issues out of the Lake Winnapusseakit" (Win- 
nipesaukee) . Observation for the latitude was taken August 1 , 
1652, when according to the report made by Sherman and Ince 
October 19, 1652, it was found "that the latitude of the place was 
43° 40' 12" besides those minutes which are to be allowed for the 
three miles more north which run into the lake' ' . 2 

There is no evidence that George Cleeve, while in England, 
received any information concerning this action with reference to 
the northern boundary of the Bay colony. On landing in Boston 
in September, 1653, however, he was informed of it, and his study 
of the new boundary showed that it brought a part of the Province 
of Iyygonia within the territory now claimed by Massachusetts. 
Cleeve, accordingly, addressed a letter to "the honored magis- 
trates and deputies" of the colony, asking for an explanation of 
this action. In this communication Cleeve called attention to the 

1 Records of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, III, 278. 

2 Records of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, III, 288. 



368 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

numerous commissions and other instruments, "as well from the 
crown, by the council of Plymouth as also several confirmations 
by the Parliament and council of State' ' , in which the boundaries 
of the Province of Lygonia were stated. The territorial rights of 
Baron Rigby had now descended to his son, Edward Rigby, Esq., 
of Gray's Inn, who had directed Cleeve on his return to call an 
assembly of all the villages in the province from the Sagadahoc to 
the west side of Wells. This, he added, he had intended to do, 
but he had learned it was now claimed that the Province of L,ygo- 
nia, or a great part of it, was within the jurisdiction of Massachu- 
setts. He asked the general court, therefore, to give him in 
writing a full statement of its intentions in order that he might 
report the facts "without any mistakings" and in the interest of 
"peace and love". 1 

To this courteous inquiry, the Massachusetts magistrates replied, 
insisting upon the rightfulness of their claim. 2 About the same 
time the general court of Massachusetts appointed Samuel Andrew 
and Jonas Clarke of Cambridge ("both well skilled in the math- 
ematics, having had the command of ships upon several voy- 
ages"), to mark on the seacoast the northern boundary of the 
colony, and also to "run the line and mark trees forty poles into 
the woods east and west". This was done October 13, 1654, and 
in their report the parties employed stated that the line crossed the 
norther-most point of Upper Clapboard island, "about a quarter 
of a mile from the main in Casco bay, about four or five miles 
to the northward of Mr. Mackworth's house". 8 There were few 
trees at the place, but four or five were marked, one of them 
with the letters M. B., and it was added that "at the seaside, 
where the line doth extend, there lies a grayish rock at high 
water mark cleft in the middle". 4 

1 In Massachusetts Archives, misplaced under 1662. The letter is printed 
in full in Baxter's George Cleeve, 161, 162. 

2 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 287. 

3 The house was near the mouth of the Presumpscot. 

4 Records of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, III, 361, 362. 



MASSACHUSETTS CLAIMS MAINE TERRITORY. 369 

Cleeve, in continuing to protest against this action of Massachu- 
setts, courteously called the attention of the general court to some 
propositions prepared by himself and others of the Province of 
I^ygonia. In their reply, the members of the general court 
insisted that their "general claim hath been constantly from the 
first to three miles northward of the most northern part of the 
said [Merrimac] river, in length and longitude, through the main 
land, from the eastern sea to the sea on the west". Then fol- 
lowed a reference to the fairness manifested by Massachusetts in 
its attitude toward the Maine settlements. 1 The weak point in 
this answer of the general court was in the statement that the 
present claim of Massachusetts as to her northern boundary had 
been the general claim of the Bay colony from the first. Of this 
no proof was furnished, and an examination of the records of the 
colony seems to warrant the opinion that no proof could be 
furnished. 

But Massachusetts now was by far the dominant power in New 
England, and her able representatives in England had the ear of 
those most influential in national governmental relations. John 
Gorges, son and heir of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and Edward 
Rigby, son and heir of Baron Rigby, found themselves powerless 
to render Godfrey, Cleeve and others any assistance in their 
efforts to resist the asserted claims of Massachusetts. Moreover, 
conditions in the Province of Maine and the Province of Lygonia 
were unfavorable to growth and good order. Further opposition, 
accordingly, seemed to offer no hope of success, and at length, in 
the interest of peace and orderly government, opposition ceased. 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 294, 295. 

24 



CHAPTER XXII. 
The Jurisdiction of Massachusetts Accepted. 

THE members of the general court of Massachusetts, in their 
search for the northern boundary of the colony, perused 
the colonial charter on May 31, 1652. As has already 
appeared, however, the attention of the general court had been 
called to the boundary matter in the preceding year. In fact, in 
October, 1651, they had reached the conclusion that from an 
extension of the northern boundary line of the colony, "it doth 
appear that the town of Kittery, and many miles to the north- 
ward, is comprehended within our grant." In reaching this con- 
clusion, the members of the general court were doubtless influ- 
enced by an effort on the part of several persons in Kittery to 
induce the residents there ("who govern now by combination") 
to present a petition to Parliament for a grant of the place. This, 
it was said, a majority of the inhabitants refused to do, many of 
them expressing their willingness "to submit themselves to the 
government of the Massachusetts". 1 Under these circumstances 
the members of the court, taking into consideration the "commo- 
diousness" of the Piscataqua river, and the fact that it would be 
prejudicial to the Massachusetts government if Kittery and the 
Piscataqua river should be held by those who were unfriendly to 
the Bay colony, it was ordered, "that a loving and friendly letter" 
be sent to the inhabitants of Kittery informing them that Kittery 
was within the Massachusetts grant, and that a commission had 
been appointed consisting of Simon Bradstreet, Major Daniel 
Denison and Captain William Hawthorne to treat with them in 
accordance with their instructions, and to receive them under the 
Massachusetts government provided "terms of agreement can be 

1 Records of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, III, 250. 



THK JURISDICTION OF MASSACHUSETTS ACCEPTED. 371 

concluded upon by mutual consent". If, however, the inhabit- 
ants of Kittery declined to enter into such an agreement, the com- 
missioners, having "laid claim to the place", were to protest 
against any further proceedings ' 'by virtue of their combination 
or other interest whatsoever". 1 

Information concerning this action reached the Province of 
Maine soon after the action was taken, and Edward Godfrey, as 
governor of the province, summoned a provincial general court to 
meet December 1, 1651. On the third day of the session, the 
court directed Mr. Godfrey, Mr. Leader and Mr. Shapleigh to 
draw up a petition to Parliament for a confirmation of the exist- 
ing provincial government. This petition, prepared by Godfrey, 
professing free and willing submission to the government of Eng- 
land as then established "without a King or House of Lords", 
called attention to the circumstances under which the colonists 
had been compelled to take upon themselves the government of 
the province, making mention especially of the death of Sir Fer- 
dinando Gorges, and the failure of his son and heir to identify 
himself with the interests of the province. Having thus been 
forced ' 'by way of combination to govern and rule according to 
the laws of England' ' , in behalf of the general court the governor 
asked for a confirmation of the government thus established and 
requested that the inhabitants of the province, as free-born Eng- 
lishmen, might be declared members of the Commonwealth of 
England. 2 

But Godfrey did not cease his opposition to the proposed action 
of Massachusetts with the preparation of this petition. Toward 
the close of May, 1652, he addressed an earnest letter to Edward 
Rawson, secretary of the general court of Massachusetts, chal- 
lenging the claim of the Bay colony to Maine territory as included 
within Massachusetts limits. In his reply, which was by order 
of the general court, Rawson defended the action against which 
Godfrey had remonstrated. To this communication Godfrey 

1 Records of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, III, 251. 

2 Hazard, I, 559, 560. 



372 THE BEGINNINGS OF COIyONIAE MAINE). 

made a vigorous answer July 9, 1652. "For our perusal of your 
patent and your line", he wrote, "we apprehend the bounds 
thereof were set more than twenty years last past, at the sea-side 
and so up into the country from the sea three miles on this side 
Merrimac, as all other patents were which are no less than ten in 
number, that we perceive by the extension of your unknown line 
you now willingly labor to engraft". Against such pretended 
jurisdiction Godfrey earnestly protested. "We are loath to part 
with our precious liberties for unknown and uncertain favors " , 
he wrote. "We resolve to exercise our just jurisdiction till it 
shall please the Parliament, the Commonweal [th] of England, 
otherwise to order under whose power and protection we are." 1 

The general court of Massachusetts made no haste in the pro- 
cedure. The action of the court in connection with the perusal 
of its charter did not take place until May 31, 1652. The com- 
missioners did not receive their instructions to repair to Kittery 
until June 11, 1652. On account of a change in the membership 
of the commission as finally constituted, William Hawthorne, 
John Iyeverett and Henry Bartholomew represented the colony of 
Massachusetts bay in the Kittery conference, which seems to have 
been held July 9, 1652. Edward Godfrey, Richard Leader, 
Nicholas Shapleigh, Thomas Withers and Edward Rishworth, 
who declared themselves "to be persons in present power for the 
ordering and managing of whatsoever might be of concernment to 
the people", represented the Province of Maine. There is no 
record of the proceedings of the conference. Doubtless there was 
much discussion, but Godfrey and those associated with him 
declined to accept the overtures of the Massachusetts commis- 
sioners. 

Because of this action it only remained for the commissioners 
to present the protest of Massachusetts as their instructions 
required. It did not appear to them, the commissioners said, that 
Godfrey and others, representing the Province of Maine, pos- 
sessed any rightful authority, inasmuch as the provincial territory 

1 Hazard, I, 567, 568. 



THE JURISDICTION OF MASSACHUSETTS ACCEPTED. 373 

was included in the limits of the patent of the Bay colony, and so 
by grant and charter, under the great seal of England, was under 
the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. But they were authorized to 
say that those submitting themselves thereunto should "freely 
and quietly possess and enjoy all the lands, goods and chattels 
appertaining to and possessed by any or every of them" and that 
they should have "right and equally share" in all acts of favor and 
justice which by virtue of government the inhabitants of Massa- 
chusetts "do or may expect to enjoy". Then followed the pro- 
test of Massachusetts against any person or persons within the 
Province of Maine exercising jurisdiction over the inhabitants of 
the province, or any part thereof, after October 10, 1652, without 
order from the general court or council of the colony of Massa- 
chusetts bay. 1 

The commissioners' announcement of this protest was dated 
July 9, 1652. This, also, was the date of Governor Godfrey's 
answer to Secretary Rawson's letter of June 12, 1652, to which 
reference has already been made. It was also the date of the 
answer made by Godfrey and his associates, "sworn magistrates" 
of the Province of Maine, to the Massachusetts protest. Evi- 
dently, July 9, 1652, was a busy day in Kittery. The answer 
made to the protest by the magistrates of the Province of Maine 
was plainly the work of Governor Godfrey. It assailed again the 
action of the Bay colony in attempting to extend its jurisdiction 
northward. "The truth doth and shall appear", it was said, 
that where their bounds were set up more than twenty years 
passed, and both before and since many patents [have been] 
granted for the populating and propagating of the land' ' . In this 
way, it was added, a large sum of money had been expended. 
Also lawful jurisdiction had been exercised by officers "acknowl- 
edged and owned by you of the Massachusetts", and "approved 
and justified in England". And now, for these gentlemen to 
come "in the name only and behalf of the jurisdiction of the 
Massachusetts", saying that the inhabitants who "shall submit 

1 Hazard, I, 568, 569. 



374 THE BEGINNINGS OF COIvONIAI, MAINE. 

unto them shall freely and quietly possess and enjoy all the lands, 
goods, chattels, and that we shall enjoy equal favors in acts of 
government, — these proposals are not in our judgment meet ; the 
time, places and persons considered we patiently bear them, and 
submit to be judged by those whom we acknowledge to be our 
supreme judges. Against exercise of jurisdiction, we resolve and 
intend to go on till lawful power command us the contrary, as 
subordinate and depending upon the Commonwealth of England." 

On receiving the report of the commissioners, the general court 
of Massachusetts evidently saw no reason for discouragement. 
Its conference had revealed the attitude of the provincial officers 
only. It was now resolved to appeal to the inhabitants as a whole. 
Accordingly, October 23, 1652, the court appointed six commis- 
sioners to settle the civil government amongst the inhabitants of 
Kittery, the Isles of Shoals, ' 'and so to the most northerly extent" 
of the colony's patent. By their instructions, the commissioners 
were to proceed to the territory north of the Piscataqua, and sum- 
mon the inhabitants to assemble in places deemed by the commis- 
sioners most convenient and require their submission, granting 
unto them at the same time equal protection and privileges with 
the inhabitants of the Bay colony. They were also to establish 
courts for hearing and determining all causes, civil and criminal, 
to appoint commissioners, constables and such other officers as 
they deemed needful for preserving peace and good order, 'and 
otherwise to act in the premises" as the general court shall direct, 
doing whatever in their wisdom and discretion would be most con- 
ducive to the glory of God, the peace and welfare of the inhabi- 
tants and the maintenance of their own ' 'just rights and inter- 
ests." 2 

Four of the six commissioners, namely, Simon Bradstreet and 
Samuel Simonds of Boston, Captain Thomas Wiggin of New 
Hampshire and Bryan Pendleton of the Province of Maine, pro- 

1 Hazard, I, 569, 570. 

2 2 Massachusetts Records, 128, as cited by Williamson, History of the 
State of Maine, I, 343. 



THE JURISDICTION OF MASSACHUSETTS ACCEPTED. 375 

ceeded to Kittery, where they opened a court November 15, 1652, 
and issued a summons to the inhabitants to assemble on the fol- 
lowing day, between seven and eight o'clock in the morning at 
the house of William Everett. The inhabitants appeared as sum- 
moned, and the conference was opened by the Massachusetts com- 
missioners, who presented evidence of their appointment and also 
the instructions they had received. For four days there was full 
and free discussion. In general, the temper of both parties was 
good, but evidences of strong feeling are reported and mention is 
made of the offensive bearing and words of one John Bursley, who, 
towards the commissioners and some of the residents of Kittery 
that apparently were ready to subscribe their submission, indulged 
in threats to such an extent that at once he was brought to trial 
and confession for his misbehavior. Finally, the inhabitants 
declared their willingness to give written consent to the jurisdic- 
tion of Massachusetts, provided certain conditions offered by them 
were accepted. This offer the commissioners declined on the 
ground that their instructions required the submission of the 
inhabitants first ; then, a guaranty of rights and of ample privi- 
leges would follow. Evidently further opposition was thought to 
be useless, and November 20, 1652, forty-one of the inhabitants of 
Kittery subscribed to the following declaration: "We whose 
names are underwritten do acknowledge ourselves subject to the 
government of Massachusetts bay in New England." 

In fourteen articles the commissioners then enumerated the 
rights and privileges the people of Kittery were to possess under 
the government of Massachusetts. The territory north of the 
Piscataqua was to comprise a county known as Yorkshire. The 
inhabitants were to have "protection and equal acts of favor and 
justice" with those dwelling on the south side of the Piscataqua. 
Kittery was to remain a township, 1 and enjoy the privileges of 
other Massachusetts towns. Titles to property in houses and 
lands "whether by the grant of the town or of the Indians", or of 
those justly holding them. Kittery was promised a deputy to the 

1 Kittery was incorporated as a town in 1647. 



376 THE BEGINNINGS OP COEONIAI, MAINE. 

general court, and two if "they think good". All the present 
inhabitants of the town were to be regarded as freemen of the 
country, and having taken the oath as freemen they were to have 
liberty to vote for "governor, assistants and other general officers 
of the country". Moreover, the county of York was to have 
county courts in the most commodious and fit places, "as author- 
ity shall see meet to appoint". Provision also was made for every 
township to have three men appointed by the county court for the 
trial of minor causes, in places where there was no resident magis- 
trate or commissioner. The county, also, was to have three 
associates to assist such commissioners as the present commission- 
ers, or such as might afterwards be sent. Furthermore the men 
of the whole county of York were not to be drawn upon for any 
ordinary general trainings out of their own territory without their 
consent. 1 

How many of the inhabitants declined to acknowledge their 
submission to Massachusetts at that time is not known. It is said 
there were some ; but the forty-one who yielded, and by subscrip- 
tion acknowledged themselves subjects to the government of 
Massachusetts, comprised a majority and probably a large major- 
ity of the freemen of the place. 

Having completed their labors at Kittery, the commissioners on 
Monday, November 22, proceeded to Agamenticus, Gorges' Gor- 
geana, where, in response to the commissioners' summons, the 
inhabitants assembled at the house of Nicholas Davis. Prominent 
among them was Edward Godfrey, still representing the Gorges 
interests. Doubtless during the conference of the preceding week 
at Kittery he had been in close touch with friends there holding 
like views with reference to the claims of Massachusetts ; and in 
the submission of Kittery' s inhabitants he could hardly have 
failed to foresee the issue of the conference in his own town. 
None the less, however, in a day of "debatements", his voice 
rang out loud and clear in opposition to any encroachment upon 
territory that had long been known as the Province of Maine. 

1 Hazard, I, 573, 574. 



the; jurisdiction of Massachusetts accepted. 377 

But it was of no avail. At the close of the day, when the vote 
was taken, the inhabitants of Agamenticus took the same action 
as the inhabitants of Kittery on the preceding Saturday. As 
recorded by the commissioners the vote was as follows: "Mr. 
Godfrey did forbear until the vote was passed by the rest, and 
then immediately he did by word and vote express his consent". 1 
According to Godfrey's own statement, however, his submission 
was with a mental reservation. In a later appeal to Parliament, 
he wrote, "Whatever my body was inforced unto, heaven knows 
my soul did not consent unto". 2 The statement seems to belong 
to a considerably later period in Godfrey's life, as in the endorse- 
ment at the close of the petition occur the words, "This was after 
Richard Cromwell was out", and therefore after April 22, 1659. 
In no sense could it be said that Godfrey was under any outward 
compulsion in yielding submission to the government of Massa- 
chusetts. His submission, it is true, was an unwilling one, but 
the act was his own. Of course his conviction with reference to 
his rights remained unchanged. To the best of his ability he had 
opposed the onward advance of Massachusetts into territory north 
of the Piscataqua. But now, even his fellow townsmen were not 
in agreement with him ; and when this fact was made clear by 
their votes at the close of the conference, he yielded and added 
his vote to the forty-nine votes already recorded. 3 

This concession on the part of Godfrey has been called a mistake. 
Rather it seems to have been the only course open to him if he 
was to have any helpful influence at Agamenticus. 4 The oppor- 
tunity for such helpful influence appeared when he received an 
appointment as the first of four commissioners to whom, with one 
assistant of the Massachusetts government, was given authority 

1 Hazard, I, 575. 

2 Colonial Papers, Public Records Office, London, XIII, 79. Me. Hist. 
Society's Coll., First Series, IX, 347. 

3 For the privileges granted to the inhabitants see Hazard, I, 576. 

* From the Massachusetts commissioners Agamenticus now received the 
designation York, and became the second town within the limits of what is 
the State of Maine. 



378 the beginnings of colonial maine. 

to keep one county court at York each year, while any three of 
them were authorized to try cases without a jury. They were 
also empowered to conduct the affairs of the county in general. 
This position Godfrey held for three successive years. But the 
fires of resentment continued to burn in his breast ; and at length, 
probably in 1655, he left Agamenticus and made his way to Eng- 
land in the hope of securing from the home government redress 
for the losses he had sustained. During Cromwell's Protectorate, 
however, and also during the Protectorate of his son Richard, 
conditions were unfavorable for a successful presentation of his 
case. In 1660, however, with the restoration of Charles II, the 
withered hopes of Godfrey and the heirs of Gorges and Mason 
suddenly brightened. Yet, under even these changed circum- 
stances, disappointment upon disappointment followed ; and when 
we obtain our last glimpses of Godfrey, he is an inmate of L,ud- 
gate jail, London, hopeless, friendless, bending under the weight 
of more than fourscore years ; and there, on an unknown date, it 
is supposed that he died. His burial place, like that of Robert 
Trelawny, is unknown. 1 

Thus, in 1652, by a direct appeal to the people, Massachusetts 
succeeded in extending her jurisdiction over the nearest of the 
Maine settlements. Her success foreshadowed such added action 
on the part of the Bay colony as would bring to an end any 
exercise of authority derived from the proprietary governments of 
Gorges and Rigby. Yet again there was no hasty action in fur- 
ther procedure. In May, 1653, the general court of Massachu- 
setts admitted two representatives from Maine, one from Kittery 

1 The last information concerning him is in a letter written in prison in 
April, 1663. "There we leave him in the poor debtor's cell, where he had 
lived for two years. The end probably came soon after, for it could not have 
been delayed long ; and Kdward Godfrey, once governor of the Province of 
Maine, who bore unchallenged the arms of Godfrey of Bouillon, the knightly 
king of Jerusalem, was probably thence buried as a public pauper in the 
Potter's Field, without stone or stake to mark his grave, and his name and 
story have been almost lost in the two centuries that have passed." Dr. 
Charles F. Banks, Maine Hist '. Society' 's Coll., First Series, IX, 335. 



THE JURISDICTION OF MASSACHUSETTS ACCEPTED. 379 

and one from York. Shortly after, however, having approved 
the wise and successful work of the commissioners at Kittery and 
York, the court appointed commissioners to extend the jurisdic- 
tion of the colony still farther northward so as to include Wells, 
Saco and Cape Porpoise. Equal success attended the efforts of 
the commissioners in these settlements, and July 5, 1653, their 
inhabitants by their votes placed themselves under the jurisdic- 
tion of Massachusetts. 1 

About this time the Plymouth colonists, somewhat tardily 
indeed, were directing attention to the lack of good government 
in its Maine territory on the Kennebec. Some one, evidently, 
had reminded the Pilgrims of their failure to comply with the 
requirement of their charter that the English settlers on the river 
within the colony's territorial limits "should be orderly governed 
and carried on in a way of peace for their common good in civil 
concernments". 2 This requirement they had not fulfilled, and 
the general court of the Plymouth colony now authorized Thomas 
Prence, one of the colony's honored magistrates, to proceed to 
the Kennebec and call together the inhabitants along the river 
"for the settling of a government" . Mr. Prence made his way 
thither, and May 23, 1654, the people assembled at the house of 
Thomas Ashley at Merrymeeting bay, where sixteen persons, 
including Thomas Purchase, took the oath of fidelity to the Com- 
monwealth of England and Plymouth colony, and agreed upon a 
series of articles designed to secure a proper observance of law and 
order within the limits of the Pilgrim grant. 3 

1 Records of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, III, 332-334. 

2 Hazard, I, 583. 

3 lb., I, 585, 586. A glance at the later history of the Pilgrim grant on 
the Kennebec is interesting. When the general court of the colony met at 
Plymouth, June 6, 1660, it was voted that if ^"500 could be obtained for the 
colony's rights on the Kennebec, the grant should be sold. In accordance 
with this vote the Pilgrims, in 1661, sold all their lands on either side of the 
river to Antipas Boies, Edward Tyng, Thomas Brattle and John Winslow. 
These four persons and their heirs held these Kennebec lands nearly a cen- 
tury, making no endeavor to colonize them. In September, 1749, a meeting 
of the proprietors was held with a view to the introduction of settlers. Other 



380 THE) BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

As yet, still farther to the eastward, there was little if any 
endeavor to make proper provision for securing the benefits of 
good government. The necessity was recognized, but the ways 
and means were not discoverable. And still Massachusetts, while 
watchful of the territory beyond Saco, delayed added action in 
extending her jurisdiction. There, men of considerable influence, 
like Henry Josselyn, Robert Jordan and Arthur Mackworth, con- 
tinued their opposition to the claims of Massachusetts, as also did 
George Cleeve ; the former on religious and political grounds, and 
the latter in an endeavor to retain his place in connection with the 
Rigby interests which otherwise would be blotted out. To Cleeve 's 
protest against any further encroachment Massachusetts made 
reply: "We have not endeavored to infringe the liberties of the 
planters of those lands, but have offered them the same with our- 
selves ; nor to nourish or ease ourselves by taxing of their estates, 
to ease ourselves. We expect no more than what they formerly 
did, namely, bear their own charges ; nor do we seek to put upon 
them that which we ourselves would count unequal, namely, to 
subject [them] to such laws and constitutions made by others 
without their consent, it being the portion of most of our present 
inhabitants, as of the subjects of most countries, to be in no other 
capacity ; the constitutions of government and new model of laws 
not being made in every age of men, or upon the arrival of new 
comers to a colony". 1 

But all the while, Massachusetts held firmly to her purpose. 
At length, having received "divers complaints for want of gov- 
ernment at the westward, the Massachusetts authorities May 15, 
1657, addressed a letter 2 to Henry Josselyn and Robert Jordan, 
requesting them to meet the commissioners of the colony at the 

proprietors were admitted, and in June, 1753, a corporation was formed 
under the title of "The Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase from the 
late Colony of New Plymouth". The Kennebec Purchase Papers, carefully 
arranged chronologically, were presented to the Maine Historical Society by 
Hon. Reuel Williams, of Augusta. 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents , 295, 296. 

2 lb., 296, 297. 



THE JURISDICTION OP MASSACHUSETTS ACCEPTED. 381 

next county court at York, to assist in settling "those parts 
beyond Saco, to the utmost bounds of the Massachusetts charter. 
As neither appeared in answer to this request, Massachusetts pro- 
ceeded to summons the inhabitants in the territory mentioner" to 
present themselves at the general court to be held in Boston October 
14, 1657. Again there was default. Cleeve, however, responded 
by a protest against the legality of the action of Massachusetts in 
extending her jurisdiction into Maine territory, adding an 
announcement that the inhabitants had resolved not to yield sub- 
mission to the government of the Bay colony. 

To this protest the general court of Massachusetts, October 23, 
1657, replied by a "declaration and protestation", 1 reaffirming its 
'"'right and claim to those parts", but asserting its purpose to "sur- 
cease any further prosecution", at the same time insisting that "if 
any mischief or inconvenience" should result "by means of their 

own differences, or for want of a settled government 

all the blame and danger must and ought to be imputed" to 
the inhabitants themselves. Here, also, it was made to appear 
that Josselyn, Jordan and Cleeve, in their attitude toward Massa- 
chusetts, did not represent the people among whom they lived ; 
and in response to added complaints of unsettled conditions, com- 
missioners, appointed by the general court, were directed to repair 
to Black Point, Richmond's island and Casco to receive the sub- 
mission of the inhabitants. In attending to this duty, the com- 
missioners held a court, July 13, 1658, at the house of Robert 
Jordan, at Spurwink. Hither came a majority of the residents in 
the places mentioned. As at Kittery, York, Wells, Saco and 
Cape Porpoise, there was "serious debate", but final unanimity, 
"the inhabitants of Black Point, Blue Point, Spurwink and Casco 
bay, with all the islands thereunto belonging", acknowledging 
themselves to be subject to the government of Massachusetts bay. 
Twenty-nine persons signed the form of submission. Among them 
appear such familiar names as George Cleeve, Robert Jordan and 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 299. 



382 THE BEGINNINGS OP COEONIAE MAINE. 

Michael Mitton. 1 In the articles of agreement it was announced 
that the places formerly known as Black Point, Blue Point and 
Stratton's islands would be called Scarborough henceforth. Those 
places, hitherto known as Spurwink and Casco bay from east side 
of Spurwink river to the Clapboard islands in Casco bay, and run- 
ning back into the country eight miles, would be called hence- 
forth Falmouth. Henry Josselyn, Robert Jordan, George Cleeve, 
Henry "Watts and Francis Neale were appointed commissioners 
for the year ensuing and were invested with full power, or any 
three of them, for the trial of all causes without jury, within the 
limits of Scarborough and Falmouth ; while Henry Josselyn, 
Robert Jordan, Nicholas Shapleigh, Edward Rishworth and 
Abraham Preble were invested with magisterial power throughout 
the county of York. 2 

The purpose of Massachusetts, at least the initial purpose, in 
her invasion of Maine territory, was now accomplished. It was 
not without watchfulness and skilful management, however, that 
under changed political conditions in England she succeeded in 
retaining her hold upon the territory thus secured. The stars in 
their courses seem to fight on her side, and she was able at length 
to extend her jurisdiction into the larger territory still farther to 
the eastward. The story of those added endeavors is one of very 
deep interest, but it belongs to a period outside of that to which 
the present volume is restricted. 

1 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 301-303. 

2 lb., 303-306. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
Review of the Period. 

IN its beginnings colonial Maine seemed to possess advantages 
that promised much for its development and prosperity. It 
had prominent and powerful promoters, and they lost no 
time in obtaining a foothold here. The date of the arrival of the 
Popham colonists at the mouth of the Kennebec is only a little 
later than that of the colonists who made their settlement at 
Jamestown, Virginia. But the Popham colony was a failure. 
None of the colonists remained in the country when Gilbert and 
the ships returned homeward. English fishermen and traders 
continued to make their way to the coast of Maine, but of settlers 
little is heard for many years. As late as 1620, and for some time 
afterward, Maine had no settlement that equalled in the number 
of its inhabitants that of the Pilgrim colony at Plymouth. Indeed, 
after the landing of the Puritans at Salem and Boston, colonial 
Maine had no rivals to the larger and more prosperous communi- 
ties within the limits of the Baj T colony. This was also true at 
the time when Massachusetts extended her jurisdiction over the 
Maine settlements. 

It may properly be asked, therefore, why during the period 
covered by these pages, were Maine settlements weak, lacking 
elements of growth and stability, as compared with settlements in 
other parts of New England territory ? 

Certainly it was not because of racial differences in the colonists. 
All the settlers in New England in the first half of the seventeenth 
century had a common ancestry. They spoke the same language, 
and their political opinions were developed under the same condi- 
tions. But they were not all on the same side in the great move- 
ment toward democrac3^ that was in progress in the period now 



384 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

under review. A recent English historian 1 tells us that "the 
sovereignty of the people" and "the equality of man with man in 
the scales of justice' ' were first ushered into the world of English 
politics by the trial of Charles I, that resulted in his execution. 
As to the final act in the conflict between the king and the House 
of Commons this is true. Charles had no use for political princi- 
ples that found expression in such notions as ' 'the sovereignty of 
the people' ' and ' 'the equality of man with man in the scales of 
justice' ' . His own views concerning king and people he stated 
frankly, even bluntly, on the scaffold. "For the people", he 
said, "truly I desire their liberty and freedom as much as any 
body whatsoever ; but I must tell you, their liberty and freedom 
consists in having government, those laws by which their lives 
and their goods may be most their own. It is not their having a 
share in the government ; that is nothing appertaining to them. 
A subject and a sovereign are clear different things". 2 

To Charles these were old truths, needing, as he thought, 
reaffirmation. For them he was ready to die. It has well been 
said that "nothing in Charles' life became him like the manner in 
which he left it' ' . 3 In that solemn hour he certainly exhibited 
calm dignity and bravery. But in these last words the king cor- 
rectly represented his attitude towards the people over whom he 
had reigned so arbitrarily as to make his trial necessary. 4 

Over against these old-world ideas that at length wrought the 
ruin of the Stuarts stood those of the new democracy, which for a 
score and more of years had found voices in the House of Com- 
mons declaring the sovereignty of the people and the supremacy 
of Parliament. 5 It was a new democracy. It had its beginnings 

1 George Macaulay Trevelyan, England under the Stuarts, 281. 

2 lb., 289. 

3 S. R. Gardiner, Puritan Revolution, 160. 

* "England must be brought under a settled government; and a settled gov- 
ernment, with Charles to stir up discord against every element in the state 
in turn, was a sheer impossibility." lb., 158. 

5 Some voices were heard in the House of Lords, but in the progress of 
the movement for democracy, the influence of the Lords rapidly declined. 



REVIEW OF THE PERIOD. 385 

farther back than the trial of Charles, however, and in the interest 
of religious rather than civil liberty. Happily in places on the 
continent of Europe conditions were better at that time than in 
England. For example, when the Pilgrims, in the latter part of 
the sixteenth century, left the land of their birth and crossed over 
into Holland, it was because there "they heard was freedom of 
religion for all men". 1 But in English towns and villages the 
word "freedom" was already stirring the thoughts of men and 
becoming forceful to such a degree as to call for action and sacri- 
fice. But before their departure for Holland, the need of civil 
freedom must have been strongly impressed upon the Pilgrims on 
account of the cruel, it might indeed be called brutal treatment 
they received from the civil authorities in their experiences in 
getting out of England. 2 During their residence in Holland, 
however, their civil and religious ideals were enlarged ; and at 
length, looking for a new home in which their ideals might have 
such fulfilment as they desired, the Pilgrims crossed the sea and 
made the first permanent settlement in New England. To what 
extent their ideals had been enlarged during those years of exile 
on the continent appears in the opening words of their General 
Laws and Liberties, to which they gave these fitting words of 
introduction : 

At the time of the opening of the I/ong Parliament (November 3, 1640) , it is 
estimated that one-half of the peers supported the king, while about thirty 
remained at Westminster and continued to act with the majority of the House 
of Commons. But just before the execution of Charles (January 29, 1649) , the 
House of Commons voted, "That the House of Peers is useless and ought to 
be abolished." It was abolished. "Not only was the abolition of the Upper 
House the necessary preliminary to all reforms, it was justifiable by nature 
and reason." The House of Lords During the Civil War, by Charles Hard- 
ing Firth, Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Oxford, 
213, 216. 

1 Bradford, Journal, 15. 

2 These experiences are quite fully related by Bradford in the early part of 
his Journal. 

25 



386 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

"We, the associates of the colony of New Plymouth, 
coming hither as free-born subjects of the kingdom of 
England, endowed with all and singular the privileges 
belonging to such, being assembled, do enact, ordain and 
constitute, that no act, imposition, law or ordinance, be 
made or imposed upon us at present or to come, but such 
as shall be made or imposed by consent of the body of free- 
men or associates, or their representatives legally assem- 
bled, which is according to the free liberties of the freeborn 
people of England". 1 
The causes of irritation that drove the Pilgrims out of England 
in the closing years of Elizabeth's reign were also forceful during 
the reign of her successor. Many of the most influential and con- 
scientious of the conformist Puritans in the English church felt 
compelled to leave it. "About the year 1620, the storm began to 
brew. Strong Protestants of all sections were drawn together by 
a vague sense of approaching peril, which thenceforward inspired 

every word and action of the House of Commons So 

James I, when he died [March 27, 1625], left Protestants angry 
and suspicious, and bold in the consciousness of representing pub- 
lic opinion." 2 Conditions under Charles, however, were not bet- 
ter than under James, but worse. In the opening years of his 
reign it was only too evident that he would run a more irritating 
course than his father. 

Accordingly, there was still unrest in English hearts and homes, 
and when at length this was aggravated by an outbreak of reli- 
gious tyranny that became increasingly intolerable, the Puritans 
followed the Pilgrims hither, 3 with the purpose, as John Winthrop 

1 From a copy of these Laws and Liberties, printed at Cambridge in 1672, 
and now in the Maine Historical Society library. 

2 Trevelyan, England under the Stuarts, 149, 150. 

8 "The men who formed the strength of the anti-monarchical and the 
Puritan part of the community were always contemplating emigration. 
England sent enough of these elements to found a new world ; but if the 
war had gone differently, she would have sent out enough to ruin herself. 
The most advantageous merchants, the most skilled artisans, the lords and 



REVIEW OF THE PERIOD. 387 

said on the voyage over, "to seek out a place of cohabitation and 
consortship under a due form of government, both civil and eccle- 
siastical". 1 By "due form of government" Winthrop did not 
mean a form characterized by such a measure of civil and religious 
liberty as the descendants of Winthrop and his fellow voyagers 
now enjoy. The full vision of that better day had not broken 
upon them. But they soon framed a form of government here, 
which, with all its shortcomings as we now see them, afforded a 
freedom from political and ecclesiastical constraint greatly in 
advance of what they had known hitherto, and which in time, 
under the protection of just laws, would develop the principles of 
true freedom, civil and religious, to an extent not before attained 
in the history of civilization, and in the enjoyment of which, even 
in the beginnings of the Bay colony, they greatly prospered. 

In this, indirectly, the Puritans of Massachusetts were greatly 
aided by the course of events in England. Not all came hither 
who were in agreement with them in their democratic aspirations. 
Indeed there were many who still hoped that in some way Charles 
would be made to see how destructive to his own interests, as well 
as to those of the country, was the course he had taken, and that 
at length he would recognize the necessity of retracing his steps. 
But the hope had no fulfilment, and more and more the conviction 
was strengthened that "a king who had ruled so badly in the past 
was incapable of ruling at all in the future' ' . 2 And so there fol- 
lowed what is sometimes designated as the "Puritan Revolution", 
sometimes as the "Civil War" and sometimes as the "Great 
Rebellion". Charles drew to his standard the cavaliers, includ- 
ing all those who for various reasons rallied to the support of the 
king ; while around Cromwell gathered the yeomen freeholders, 

gentlemen who took counsel for the liberties of their country, the plough- 
men who saw visions, the tinkers who dreamed dreams, were perpetually 
thinking of New England. Thither twenty thousand Puritans had already 
carried their skill and industry, their silver and gold, their strivings and 
hopes." Trevelyan, England under the Stuarts , 225. 

1 The Puritan Age, Rev. Dr. George E. KHis, 50. 

2 S. R. Gardiner, The Puritan Revolution, 126. 



388 THE BEGINNINGS OP COLONIAL MAINE. 

many of the smaller country squires, tenant farmers not a few, 
some of the gentry and large numbers of the dwellers in cities and 
towns, all inspired by the hope of securing better conditions for 
themselves and their children. Generally it can be said that the 
Puritan movement was the strongest in the eastern and middle 
countries of England, while the king, although aided by devoted 
royalists and churchmen in towns and cathedral cities, relied upon 
the support he received from the southwestern counties. 1 But the 
cause for which Charles stood was a losing one. Ill success 
attended his forces ; and in the struggle until its fatal close for 
the king, affairs on this side of the sea received no attention. In 
this condition of things in England, the Puritans of Massachusetts 
were left to develop in their own way a form of government based 
upon civil liberty and the sovereignty of the people. 

The colonists who came to Maine, however, were moved thereto 
by other influences than were forceful in the establishment of the 
Bay colony and other New England colonies. The Popham colo- 
nists, on account of their early return homeward, had no part in 
New England's development ; but as they came hither under 
influences that continued to be represented here, it is noteworthy 
that those who were instrumental in their coming were in sym- 
pathy with the king, who, by his language and his acts, had 
already irritated the Puritans of England in such a way 2 as thus 
early to force an issue between king and Commons, that was finally 
to be decided on memorable battlefields in a great crisis in the his- 
tory of the English people. 

Very little is known concerning the settlers who had homes on 
the Pemaquid peninsula in 1625, and at other places between 
Pemaquid and the Kennebec at a later period. There are no 
known facts that connect them with any movement in the mother 

1 Trevelyan, England under the Stuarts, 228. 

2 Gorges, in a letter to Cecil, referring to conditions in England at the 
time of the Popham colony, and urging the importance of American colo- 
nization to the English people, describes them as "now sick in despair and 
in time will grow desperate through necessity". Baxter, Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges, III, 162. 



REVIEW OP THE PERIOD. 389 

country like that which brought the Pilgrims and the Puritans to 
New England. They seem to have represented no organized 
enterprise, but, so far as may be inferred from such information 
as has been preserved, they made their way hither out of personal 
considerations, some of them bringing their families, allured in all 
probability by what they learned from traders and fishermen, who 
called their attention to favorable opportunities for advantageous 
settlement upon the coast of Maine. 

At the same time, in the Province of Maine a few voices were 
heard that indicate in those who uttered them the presence of the 
spirit of the Puritan movement in England. Thus, when George 
Cleeve was told by John Winter that he was a trespasser at Spur- 
wink, but might become a tenant to Trelawny on some other part 
of the latter's Cape Elizabeth estate, Cleeve showed plainly where 
he stood by his very democratic reply that "he would be tenant to 
never a man in New England". 1 So also a kindred spirit seems 
to have been manifested at Richmond's island in 1636 by the six 
men in Winter's employ, who "fell into such a mutiny" that they 
left the plantation ' 'to fish for themselves' ' . As Winter in report- 
ing the case to Trelawny mentioned the names of the men, it is 
possible to follow them and learn somewhat of their subsequent 
history. 2 They all seem to have made their way to Portsmouth. 
The one whom Winter called the leader of the party was evidently 
a member of the Church of England, for he was one of the parish- 
ioners who "founded and built" at Portsmouth, in 1640, the "par- 
sonage house, chapel with the appurtenances at their own proper 
costs and charges". The others, also, seem to have been citizens 
of good repute. Evidently these men felt that they were not 
receiving just treatment from Winter ; and as freemen on Ameri- 
can soil they asserted what they regarded as the right of freemen 
and exchanged Richmond's island and John Winter's hard condi- 
tions for better conditions farther down the coast. 

Two others, not long resident in Maine, manifested sympathy 

1 Trelawny Papers, 265. 

2 lb., 93, and note by Hon. James P. Baxter. 



390 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 

with the Puritan movement, one as it shaped itself on this side of 
the sea, and the other as connected with efforts in England to 
bring the despotic rule of Charles to an end. The first was 
Edward Trelawny, who soon after his arrival at Richmond's 
island in 1635, drawn thither doubtless on account of the interests 
of Robert Trelawny, proceeded to Boston on a visit. While there, 
in a letter written to his brother Robert, he indicated such a 
degree of sympathy with the Massachusetts colonists as to make 
it evident that he had been drawn into the Puritan movement. 1 
The other was Thomas Gorges, governor of the Province of 
Maine. Having in 1640-1643 faithfully served the Gorges inter- 
ests here, finding himself out of harmony with the supporters of 
Charles as the civil war opened, he resigned his governorship, 
returned to England and joined the parliamentary party — an act 
that spoke louder than words as to his attitude in that time of 
stress and storm. 

If there were others north of the Piscataqua who were in sym- 
pathy with the Puritan movement — and doubtless there were — 
they occupied the less conspicuous places in the walks of life and 
so were not heard from. The royalists in general were in the 
positions of influence. Their voices were those that made most 
frequent and forceful expression, and thus largely gave tone to 
public sentiment as it found utterance in Maine settlements, until 
their inhabitants came under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. 

But like the royalists in England, the Maine royalists were on 
the wrong side in that great movement in which through Puritan 
warfare the battle for the sovereignty of the people was fought 

1 Trelawny Papers, 72-74; 78, 79. Referring to New England as "blest 
and beloved of the Lord", Trelawny asks : "And what is the reason of all 
this ; surely one is (as I conceive) that as God's people are come into a new 
country, where they freely enjoy the liberty of his holy ordinance without 
any trouble or molestation at all, either of bishop, archbishop or any other 
inferior carping minister or gaping officer, so they come unto the land and 
to the Lord with new hearts and new lives and enter into a new covenant so 
to continue ever to their end. And who would not be among such a people 
and in such a land?" Trelawny Papers, 74. 



REVIEW OF TEE PERIOD. 391 

and won. That battle, however, as subsequent events showed, 
was not directed against royalty, but against the arbitrary meas- 
ures for which James I and Charles I stood, "it is useless to 
ask", says a recent distinguished English historian, referring to 
Charles, "whether it [the House of Commons] might not have 
regulated the king's authority instead of shattering it. It was 
its business to shatter it, because with Charles on the throne it 
was impossible to regulate it". 1 It was an important period in 
the history of the English people. It meant much for them ; it 
meant much for the whole world in connection with the develop- 
ment of free institutions. "On the continent of Europe, at the 
beginning of the seventeenth century absolute monarchy had 
everywhere triumphed over the ruins of the oligarchical and 
feudal liberties of the middle ages. Never were the notions of 
right more completely confounded than in the midst of the 
splendor and literature of Europe ; never was there less political 
activity among the people ; never were the principles of true free- 
dom less widely circulated." This is the statement of a great 
French scholar, 2 who turning from the consideration of such con- 
ditions upon the continent found in the Puritan movement of the 
seventeenth century in England the "fruitful germs of free insti- 
tutions" and "the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people". 
Nor was he satisfied with his investigations until he had crossed 
the sea and studied here the further development of those princi- 
ples of government for which the Puritans of England contended 
in the great uprising against Charles. 

1 S. R. Gardiner, The Puritan Revolution, 118. 

2 Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America, 24. "During the sev- 
enteenth century a despotic scheme of society and government was so firmly 
established in Europe, that but for the course of events in England it would 

have been the sole successor of the mediseval system But at this 

moment the English, unaware of their destiny and of their service, tenacious 
only of their rights, their religion and their interests, evoked a system of 
government which differed as completely from the continental model as it 
did from the chartered anarchy of the middle ages." Trevelyan, England 
under the Stuarts, 1,2. 



392 THE BEGINNINGS OP COEONIAE MAINE. 

It is now readily admitted that those who supported the king 
in that crisis in England's history did so out of a sense of loyalty 
and duty, having regard to the right as they saw the right. In 
such a crisis, when good men differ and the lines are closely 
drawn, it is not easy for those of either party to give their 
opponents just credit for sincerity and honesty of purpose. Dur- 
ing the American revolution, the tories were not only bitterly 
denounced, but in many cases were compelled to leave their 
homes and seek refuge in the provinces, or in England. They 
are no longer tories, but loyalists. 1 So, too, in the civil war of 
1861-1865, those who began the war and fought until they had 
exhausted the means of war, were rebels. They are now confed- 
erates. Time is needed in order to reach just judgment. But 
we do neither the loyalists of the revolution, nor the confederates 
of the south any injustice in saying that they were on the wrong 
side. Some of them have said so themselves. 2 The supporters 
of Charles I were on the wrong side. 

It is here, therefore, that an answer is to be found to the 

1 ' 'A few years ago the most intense hate was cherished by colonists [refer- 
ring to loyalists in the British provinces] towards people of the United 
States. Their fathers were the losers, ours were the winners in the war of 
the Revolution. Nor was kind feeling entertained among us. It was thought 
disloyal in a colonist, and to evince a want of patriotism in a citizen of the 
republic, to seek to promote sentiments of love on either side, and to unite 
kinsmen, who, two generations ago, were severed in the dismemberment of 
the British empire. But the change is wonderful, and some persons who 
commend the work of reconciliation live to witness the consummation of 
their highest hopes." Lorenzo Sabine, Loyalists of the American Revolu- 
tion, I, 137. 

2 ' 'The world has not stood still in the years since we took up arms for 
what we deemed our most invaluable right — that of self-government. We 
now enjoy the rare privilege of seeing what we fought for in the retrospect. 
It no longer seems desirable. It would now prove only a curse. We have 
good cause to thank God for our escape from it, not alone for our sake, but 
for that of the whole country and even of the world." Brigadier General M. 
P. Alexander, chief of artillery in L/ongstreet's corps. Military Memories 
of a Confederate, introduction, p. viii. General Alexander directed the 
Confederate artillery fire that preceded what is called "Pickett's charge" at 
the battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. 



REVIEW OF THE PERIOD. 393 

inquiry, Why, during the period under review in the preceding 
chapters, did Maine settlements fail to grow and prosper as did 
the settlements in other parts of New Bngland ? Plainly it was 
because the men who were influential in these settlements were 
largely on the wrong side. Neither they nor their promoters in 
England were inspired by the high ideals with reference to free- 
dom, religion and governmental interests that drew to the shores 
of Massachusetts bay the Pilgrims and the Puritans. In new 
relations, however, colonial Maine more and more caught the 
spirit of the new democracy as the years rolled on, and in the 
later unfoldings of her political history, in the struggle for 
national independence, in the founding and building up of new 
and prosperous states in the middle west and northwest, and in 
the preservation of the Federal Union, Maine, by the sturdy 
character of her people and the ability of her statesmen, has 
achieved an honorable and prominent position among American 
commonwealths . 



INDEX. 



Abnaki language, 75, 76. 

Acadia, acquired from de Monts, 102 ; 
receives missionary colony, 105, 106, 
107; England's claims, 116; ceded 
by French king to company of New 
France, 265; is restored to France 
by Charles I, 266; la Tour in com- 
mand, 273; Aulnay's relations to 
the country, 274, 275; reconquest of 
by England, 279. 

Accominticus, 128, 129. 

African slave trade, 9. 

Agamenticus, 129, 130, 160, 217, 255, 
293, 294, 311, 312, 315; made a bor- 
ough, 317; charter provisions, 318; 
becomes Gorgeana, 319, 320; receives 
the designation York, 377. 

Agamenticus river, 216, 217. 

Alden, John, 248. 

Aldworth, John, 22. 

Aldworth, Robert, 23, 26, 142, 179; 
prominent merchant of Bristol, 180; 
with Giles Flbridge obtains grant 
of land in Maine, 217-219, 260, 306. 

Aldworth, Thomas, 22, 23, 180. 

Aldworth and Flbridge, 252, 255, 260. 

Alexander, Gen. F. P., concerning 
the civil war in the United States, 
393. 

Alexander, Sir William, receives royal 
charter of Nova Scotia, 154, 264; 
Charles I extends his bounds, 265; 
later cedes Acadia to France, 266, 
269; in division of New England, 
281. 

Alger, Andrew, 334. 



Allen's island, 43. 

Allerton, Isaac, 186, 242, 267. 

Alum from pyritic shale, 88, 89. 

Amadas, Philip, 14. 

Amenquin, 87. 

Amoret, 44. 

Amsterdam, 141. 

Anasou, 34, 44. 

Andrew, Samuel, 368. 

Andrews, Prof. C. M., 365. 

Androscoggin, 81, 128. 

Angel Gabriel, mention of vessel lost 
at Pemaquid, 251, 252, 254, 255, 285. 

Annapolis Basin, 31. 

Antilles, Lesser, 57. 

Aquamenticus, 169. 

Arabella arrives at Salem with Puri- 
tan colonists, 195. 

Archangel, Waymouth's vessel, 38, 
39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 
50, 60, 67, 70, 72. 

Argall, Capt. Samuel, destroys French 
colony at Mt. Desert, 109-116, 127; 
draws lot for Abraham Jennings in 
division of great patent for New 
England, 166. 

Armada, Spanish, 10, 11, 15, 24, 142. 

Arundell, Earl of, 37, 39, 50, 147, 164, 
166. 

Ashley, Edward, 189. 

Ashley, Francis, 244. 

Ashley, Thomas, 379. 

Ashton, church at Long, 340. 

Ashton Court, 320, 340. 

Ashton Phillips, 320, 340. 

Assacumet, 121. 



396 



INDEX. 



Asticou, 107. 

Aucocisco, 128, 129, 130. 

Augusta, 187, 188. 

Aulnay, Razillai's lieutenant seizes 
Pilgrim trading house at Penobscot, 
253, 266, 268; quarrels with la Tour, 
273-278. 

Aumuckcawgen, 128. 

Azores islands, 40, 67, 113. 

Bachiler, Rev. Stephen, 206, 297. 

Bacon, L,ord, 137. 

Bagnell, Walter, 199, 200, 213, 214. 

Baker, John, 334. 

Baliol College, Oxford, 38, 305. 

Ballard, Dr. Edward, 42. 

Bancroft, George, 26, 46, 93. 

Bangor, 105. 

Banks, Dr. Charles E., 293, 326. 

Banks, Sir John, 317. 

Barbadoes, 134, 209. 

Bar Harbor, 106. 

Barlee, Capt. John, 122. 

Barlow, Walter, 14. 

Barnett, Bartholomew, 318. 

Barnstable, 136, 150. 

Bartholomew, Henry, 372. 

Barton, Regis, 178. 

Bashabe, 83, 84. 

Bates, Dr. Charles, 285. 

Baxter, Hon. James P., 26, 31, 37, 38, 
56, 65, 67, 89, 94, 99, 120, 122, 134, 
194, 210, 211, 245, 292, 297, 301, 
306, 311, 322, 326, 328, 340, 344, 354. 

Bay of Fundy, 31, 266. 

Beauchamp, John, 202, 203. 

Belknap, Dr. Jeremy, 40. 

Bellingham, deputy governor, 271, 
272. 

Benner's island, 43. 

Bessabez, 33. 

Best, Capt. Ellis, 80. 

Biard, Father Pierre, 101-109, 111- 
113, 119, 127. 

Bickford, John, 237. 

Biddeford, 201. 



Biddeford Pool, 170. 

Biencourt, explores Maine coast, 1611, 

103, 119. 
Biscay, seamen of, 9, 
Black Point, 207, 208, 213, 215; accepts 

jurisdiction of Massachusetts, 381. 
Blackstone, William, 202. 
Blue Point accepts the jurisdiction of 

Massachusetts, 381. 
Boade, Henry, 330. 
Boies, Antipas, 379. 
Bond, Henry, 310. 
Bond, G. T., 149. 
Bonython (Bonighton), 201, 205, 234, 

237, 245, 292, 294, 295, 315. 
Boothbay harbor, 43, 44, 172. 
Bordeaux, 102, 108, 136. 
Boston, England, 202. 
Boston, New England, 202, 206, 208, 

274, 275. 
Bowcer, Sir John, 155. 
Bowditch, Nathaniel, 180. 
Bowdoin College, 93. 
Bownd, John, 150. 
Bradford, William, 157, 161, 182, 183, 

185, 187-190, 246, 267, 268, 272, 385. 
Bradshaw, Richard, 209, 210, 211, 221, 

223. 
Bradstreet, Simon, 370, 374. 
Bragington, Arthur, 318. 
Brasenose College, Oxford, 73, 250. 
Brattle, Thomas, 379. 
Brawnde, Capt. Edward, 134, 135. 
Breda, treaty of, 279. 
Bristol, England, 1, 5, 8, 16, 18, 22, 

23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 55, 61, 98, 136, 

141, 142, 148, 149, 150, 177, 178, 179, 

180, 198, 218, 251, 284, 285. 
Broad bay, 163. 
Brooks, Mr., 152. 
Brooke, Iyord, 247. 
Broughton, Robert, 58. 
Brown, Alexander, 25, 58, 61, 123, 

126. 
Brown, John, 176, 177, 178, 179, 198, 

259. 



INDEX. 



397 



Brown, John, Jr., 179. 

Brown, Gen. John Marshall, 212. 

Brown Library, John Carter, 40. 

Brown, Richard, 178. 

Brunswick, 242. 

Brunswick, falls at, 81. 

Buckingham, Duke of, 184, 185, 190, 

191, 194. 
Bunyan, John, 296. 
Burdett, Rev. George, 311, 312. 
Burgess, Bishop George, 73. 
Burgess, John, Sr., 199. 
Burntisland, 43. 
Burrage, Henry S-, 99. 
Byrch, William, 165. 

Cabot, John, 1-3; his landfall, 4; his 
second expedition, 5, 6; his discov- 
ery, basis of England's claim, 115; 
sailed from Bristol, 2, 142, 149. 

Cabot bibliography, 4. 

Cabot, Lewis, 1, 7. 

Cabot, Sanctus, 1, 7. 

Cabot, Sebastian, 1, 2, 7. 

Cabot tower, Bristol, 6. 

Cadiz, 11, 24. 

California, Gulf of, 265. 

Calvert, Secretary, 151, 153, 155, 158, 
164. 

Cam, Thomas, 39. 

Camden and Union mountains, 42, 46, 
47. 

Camden mountains, 68. 

Catnmock, Capt. Thomas, 207, 208, 
209, 213, 214, 215, 216, 226, 227, 234, 
257, 261, 296. 

Canada, conquest of, 197. 

Canary islands, 57. 

Capawick, 121. 

Cape Breton, 5, 7, 13, 20, 31, 57, 112, 
264. 

Cape Charles, 141. 

Cape Cod, 124, 127, 140, 141, 162, 170. 

Cape Elizabeth, 81, 170, 172, 209, 210, 
213, 223, 237, 238. 

Cape Elizabeth lights, 223. 



Cape la Have, 105. 

Cape Newaggen (Capemanwagan) 172- 
176. 

Cape Porpoise, 169. 

Cape Porpoise accepts the jurisdiction 
of Massachusetts, 379. 

Cape Sable, 264. 

Cape Small Point, 75. 

Carlyle, Thomas, 287. 

Carolina, North, 14, 15. 

Carew, Master Gome, 80. 

Cartier, Jaques, 8. 

Casco, 171, 172, 173, 222. 

Casco Bay, 34, 81, 82, 129, 171, 173, 
174, 217, 238, 242. 

Casco Bay accepts the jurisdiction of 
Massachusetts, 381. 

Casco, river of, 238. 

Castine (Pentegoet) visited by Bien- 
court and Father Biard in 1611, 103; 
by Capt. John Smith in 1614, 127; 
occupied by the Pilgrims as a trad- 
ing post, 189, 267; Aulnay gets pos- 
session, 268; Pilgrims attempt to 
regain the place, 269-272; la Tour's 
expedition, 274-276; remains a 
French outpost, 278; restored to 
France by treaty of Breda, July 21, 
1667, 279. 

Cathaye, Emperor of, 18. 

Cecil Papers, 56. 

Cecil, Secretary, 65, 87, 89, 90, 91, 92, 
94, 120, 122. 

Challons, Capt. Henry, 56, 57, 58, 60, 
121, 122. 

Chamberlain, J. L., 366. 

Champernoun, Francis, 292. 

Champlain, Samuel de., 29, 30, 32, 33, 
34, 35, 84, 213. 

Chapman, Prof. Henry Iy., 99. 

Charles I seeks hand of Henrietta 
Maria of France, 174; is married, 
184; dissolves Parliament, 185; 
issues proclamation to aid Capt. 
Christopher Levett, 191-195; his 
government, 229; extends bounds 



398 



INDEX. 



of Nova Scotia, 265; restores Acadia 
to France, 266, has in view a gen- 
eral government for New England, 
283; abandons Strafford, 298; his 
conflict with the House of Com- 
mons, 313, 314; sets up his stand- 
ard at Nottingham, 321; meets over- 
whelming defeat at the battle of 
Naseby, 323, 335; his views concern- 
ing king and people, 384; his execu- 
tion, 278, 384; character of his gov- 
ernment, 386; the things for which 
he stood, 391. 

Charles II, 279; also restores Acadia to 
France, 279. 

Charles V of Spain, 2. 

Charter of southern and northern 
companies, 114. 

Charter, surrender of great, 229, 232. 

Checkley, Samuel, 208. 

Cheere, Judith, 165. 

Cheere, Nicholas, 165. 

Chesapeake bay, 140. 

Christ Church, Oxford, 22. 

Civil war in England, commence- 
ment of, 298. 

Claim of England in 1650 in opposi- 
tion to France, 357. 

Clapboard islands in Casco bay, 382. 

Clarendon, I^ord, 286, 344, 346. 

Clarke, Jonas, 368. 

Cleeve, George, locates at Spurwink, 
210, 211; ordered to leave by John 
Winter, Trelawny's agent, 221, 222; 
removes to Machegonne, 223; op- 
posed by Winter there as on Tre- 
lawny's grant, 223-226; goes to 
England and secures grant of 
Machegonne from Gorges, 227, 228; 
added opposition from Winter and 
others, 235-240, 244, 256, 261; mat- 
ters in court, 293-297; goes to Eng- 
land and secures an ally in Col. 
Rigby, 325-327; petitions House of 
Commons, 327-329; returns as 



deputy president of Province of 
Ivygonia, 330-338; organizes prov- 
ince and receives co-operation of 
Josselyn and Jordan, 340-350; con- 
flicts with Jordan, 351-354; sails for 
England and consults Edward 
Rigby, 360-362; returns and seeks 
aid of Massachusetts, 367, 368; pro- 
tests against encroachment of Mas- 
sachusetts, 380; accepts jurisdiction 
of Massachusetts, 381, 382; his char- 
acter, 354. 

Cleeve, Elizabeth, 223, 259. 

Cleeve, Joan, 223, 259. 

Coast Survey Pilot, 40. 

Cobestcont, 187. 

Cockington, birthplace of Waymouth, 
17. 

Cogawesco, 172, 173. 

Coins found at Richmond's island, 200. 

Coke, Sir Edward, 153, 154, 156, 157, 
158. 

Coke, Sir John, 190, 191. 

Commission of Royal Society of Can- 
ada, 4. 

Commons, House of, abolishes House 
of I/ords, 385. 

Commonwealth of England, 278. 

Company of New France, 263, 266, 
273. 

Concord, Gosnold's vessel, 19. 

Conway, Secretary, 168. 

Cooper, Capt. Michael, 133. 

Cornwall, 136. 

Corvo, 40. 

Cotton, Rev. John, 202. 

Council for planting, ruling and gov- 
erning New England, 143, 154, 155, 
158, 162, 163, 164, 169, 174, 186, 197, 
201, 204, 205, 207, 209, 213, 215-217, 
221, 229, 232, 235, 243, 255, 260. 

Coves in St. George's river, 45. 

Cox, William, 177, 259. 

Cranfield, lord treasurer, 149. 



INDEX. 



399 



Cromwell, Oliver, 278, 279, 285; con- 
cerning his proposed embarkation 
for New England, 285-287; his 
death, 287; his supporters, 387, 388. 

Cromwell, Richard, 377. 

Cross erected by Waymouth on Allen's 
island, 43, 69, 70, 72. 

Cross, tercentenary memorial on Al- 
len's island, 43. 

Cross erected by Waymouth at Thom- 
aston, 47. 

Cross, William, 164. 

Crystal Hill, 170. 

Cummings, Rev. E. C, 108. 

Curry, Dr. J. i,. M., 25, 76. 

Cushenoc, 188. 

Dale, Sir Thomas, 110, 115. 

Damariscotta, 179. 

Damariscotta river, 219. 

Damariscove, 149, 156, 161, 175. 

Damariscove islands, 130, 148. 

Damerell's Cove, 97. 

Damerill, Humphrey, 130. 

Damerils isles, 129, 130. 

Dartmouth, 135, 136, 190. 

Dartmouth Haven, 48, 49. 

Davies, Capt. James, 66, 79, 80. 

Davies, Capt. Richard, 79, 80. 

Davis, Capt. Robert, 80, 89. 

Davis, Capt. Sylvanus, 249, 250. 

Davis island, 43. 

Davison, Nicholas, 307. 

Dawson, Dr. S. E., 3, 4. 

Dean, John Ward, 154, 283, 286. 

Deering, Capt. Charles, 170. 

De Costa, Dr. B. P., 26, 66. 

Dehamda, 49, 60, 72, 124. 

Dehanada, 72. 

De la Warr, L,ord, 109. 

Delaware river, 141. 

Democracy, the new, 384. 

De Monts, Sieur Pierre de Guast, 29; 
receives charter of American terri- 
tory, 29, 30; sails with colony, 31; 
locates colony on St. Croix island, 



32; explores farther down the coast, 

33, 34; settlement abandoned, 35, 

101, 103, 113, 143. 
Denison, Maj. Daniel, 370. 
Dennis, Prof. A. I,. P., 26. 
Dermer, Capt. Thomas, 138, 139, 140, 

141. 
Devonshire, 136. 
Dieppe, 102, 138. 
Digges, Sir Dudley, 185. 
Discoverer (Pring's vessel, 1603), 24, 

26. 
Dohoday, 124. 

Drake, Sir Francis, 10, 11, 24, 142. 
Dufferin and Ava, Marquess of, 6. 
Dummer, Richard, 206, 207. 
Du Thet, Gilbert, 104, 111. 

East India Company, 17. 

East Indies, 61. 

East Indies, search for northwest pas- 
sage, 7, 12, 17. 

Edgartown, 26. 

Edgecomb, John, 245. 

Edgecomb, Lord, 245, 246. 

Edgecomb, Mount, 244, 245. 

Edgecomb, Nicholas, 245. 

Edgecomb, Sir Richard, 244, 245, 246. 

Edict of Nantes, 30. 

Edward III, 142. 

Edward VI, 2, 152. 

Elbridge, Giles, co-partner with Rob- 
ert Aldworth in securing the Pema- 
quid patent, 23, 180, 182, 217, 218, 
219, 260, 261, 284, 306, 307, 308. 

Elbridge, John, 306. 

Elbridge, Thomas, son of Giles, who 
settled for awhile at Pemaquid, 182, 
261, 306, 307, 308. 

Eliot, Sir John, 184, 185. 

Elizabeth, Queen, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 
17, 19, 21, 37, 115, 142, 146, 147, 
168, 211. 

Ellis, Sir Henry, 18. 

Emigration, restriction of, 284, 285. 

Epenow, 121, 122, 140. 



400 



INDEX. 



Endicott, John, 195, 276. 

England's early fishing vessels at 
Newfoundland, 8. 

England's claim to American terri- 
tory, 1, 18, 22, 29, 114-117. 

Essex, conspiracy of, 19. 

Essex, Earl of, 37, 59. 

Everett, William, 375. 

Exeter (England), 55, 135, 136. 

Exeter, N. H., 309. 

Falkland, Lord, 286. 

Falmouth (now Portland), receives 
its name, 382. 

Familists, 204, 206. 

Farnham Papers, 29. 

Fawkes, Guy, 38, 54. 

Fayal, 113. 

Fernald's point, 108. 

Fertility of the soil, 130, 256. 

Firth, Prof. Charles H., 385. 

Fisheries on American coast, 3, 8, 16, 
18, 20. 

Fishing, licenses for and their cost, 
150. 

Fishing on coast of Maine, 41, 68, 98, 
144, 257, 258. 

Fishing, the demand for free, 147 ; ac- 
tion by the town of Plymouth, 149, 
150 ; action in the House of Com- 
mons, 150-159, 185. 

Fiske, John, 102. 

Flores, 40, 67, 68. 

Florida, 12, 102. 

Flory, Charles, 104, 111. 

Fort at Plymouth, England, 314. 

Fort Frederic, 84. 

Fort Popham, 77. 

Fort St. George, 80, 84, 86, 90, 95, 98, 
99, 172. 

Fort St. George (St. George's river), 
46. 

Fort William Henry, 84. 

Fower, Barnabas, 251. 

Fox islands, 25. 

Foxwell, Richard, 352. 



France early represented on the 

American coast, 8, 18, 29. 
France secures foothold on the St. 

Lawrence, 12, 29. 
French claim of territory on the 

Atlantic coast in 1647, 356. 
French colonists at Mt. Desert, 110. 
French encroachments, 101, 110. 
French privateers, 135. 
Frobisher, Martin, 10, 11, 12, 142. 
Frost, George, 237. 
Frost, Nicholas, 293. 
Frost, Simon, 178. 

Garde, Roger, 293, 318. 

Gardiner, 188. 

Gardiner, S. R., 391. 

Gates, Sir Thomas, 54. 

Georgetown, 89. 

Gibbons, Capt. Edward, 330, 334. 

Gibson, Rev. Richard, 262, 294, 300, 
301, 302, 305, 325, 337. 

Gift of God (Popham 's vessel), 64, 65, 
67, 68, 70, 71, 74, 75, 81, 90, 91, 92, 
93, 95, 118. 

Gilbert, Ralegh, mentioned in char- 
ter of 1606, 54; commands the Mary 
and John in Popham expedition, 
65-70; at St. George's harbor, 71-73; 
sails for mouth of the Kennebec, 74, 
75; colony located and work com- 
menced, 76-80; explores westward, 
81, 82; and eastward, 83, 84; and 
ascends the Kennebec, 85, 86; suc- 
ceeds President Popham, deceased, 
93-95; returns to England, 96-98. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 12, 13, 14, 19, 
23, 65, 115, 142, 180. 

Gilbert, Sir John, 96. 

Glanvyle, Sir John, 151, 154, 155. 

Godfrey, Edward, living at Agamen- 
ticus as early as 1630, 315; appointed 
to places of influence by Gorges, 
316-320; mayor of Gorgeana, 321; 
in conflict with Cleeve, 327, 330; 
head of the government of the 



INDEX. 



401 



Province of Maine after the depart- 
ure of Thomas Gorges, 341; elected 
governor of the province, 358; 
unites the Gorges interests in a 
"combination", 358; summons pro- 
vincial court, 371; opposes advance 
of Massachusetts into Maine terri- 
tory, 371-374; yields with mental 
reservation, 376, 377; goes to Eng- 
land, dies, 378. 

Goodyear, Moses, 211, 212, 213, 214, 
221, 222. 

Gorgeana, 160, 217, 319, 320, 321, 323, 
341, 358; accepts the jurisdiction of 
Massachusetts, 376, 377. 

Gorges and Mason, 315. 

Gorges, Gov. William, 217, 234, 236, 
241, 303, 304, 314, 315. 

Gorges, Edward, 37. 

Gorges, Ferdinando, grandson of Sir 
Ferdinando, 314, 316. 

Gorges, John, 216. 

Gorges, Robert, 156, 157, 168, 169, 
174, 234, 262. 

Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, interested in 
Waymouth's voyage, 1605, 37 ; re- 
ceived three of Waymouth's In- 
dians, 49 ; interested in other ex- 
plorations, 56-61 ; especially in the 
Popham colony, 63-73, 87-97 ; dis- 
appointed but did not despair, 100, 
101, 119-122 ; encouraged by report 
made by Capt. John Smith, 131 ; 
also by Vines, 134 ; antagonized 
English fishermen by obtaining a 
sea fishing monopoly on the Maine 
coast, 145-158 ; receives with Mason 
a grant of land from the council for 
New England, 166, 167 ; the grant 
is divided and Gorges receives the 
land between the Piscataqua and 
the Kennebec, 197, 198 ; relations 
to settlers, 201, 205, 207, 208, 210, 
211, 214-217, 221, 224, 227-229 ; sug- 



gests to the king a division into sev- 
eral provinces, 231 ; expects the 
governorship of New England, 232 ; 
makes William Gorges governor of 
the province of New Somersetshire, 
234 ; on his resignation appoints a 
commission, 236-239 ; still expect- 
ing appointment as governor of New 
England, 252 ; his allotment in the 
surrender of the charter of council 
for New England, 281, 282; ap- 
pointed governor of New England, 
283, 284, 288 ; receives a royal char- 
ter, 289-291 ; sends over Thomas 
Gorges as deputy governor, 292 ; 
endeavors to advance his interests, 
309, 314-316 ; makes Agamenticus a 
borough, 317; then a city to be 
known as Gorgeana, 319-321 ; wrote 
his Brief Narration; his death, 323, 
324, 340, 357, 371. 

Gorges, Thomas, appointed deputy 
governor of the Province of Maine, 
292 ; in court proceedings, 296 ; 
goes to the White Mountains, 308 ; 
grants land, 309 ; insisted on law 
and order, 311 ; his honorable serv- 
ice, 312 ; first mayor of Gorgeana, 
318, 321 ; returns to England, and 
his subsequent career, 322, 323, 390. 

Gorges, Sir Thomas, 59, 320. 

Gosnold, Bartholomew, 66, 141. 

Gould, Alexander, 179. 

Government, lack of good, 261, 263, 
303. 

Gravesend, 39. 

Great Britain's claim to American ter- 
ritory, 114-116. 

Great Hope, Girling, master, 269, 270. 

Great House, The, 320. 

Great Lakes, 10, 12, 29. 

Greenland, 11. 

Grenville, Sir Richard, 14. 



26 



402 



INDEX. 



Grievances, House of Commons, Com- 
mittee on, 154, 157, 158, 159. 

Guercheville, Madam de, 102, 104, 
105, 114. 

Gyles, Sir Edward, 153. 

Hakluyt, Richard, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 

22, 23, 24, 28, 54, 59. 
Hakluyt 's Principall Navigations, 7, 

16. 
Hakluyt Society, 66. 
Hallam, Henry, 285. 
Ham, residence of Robert Trelawny, 

211. 
Hampden, John, 285, 313. 
Han ham, Sir John, 54. 
Hanham, Penelope (Popham), 54, 58, 

59. 
Hanham (Hanam), 1 Thomas, 58. 
Hanham, 2 Thomas, 54, 58, 59, 60, 61, 

72, 85, 129. 
Hanham, 3 Thomas, 59. 
Harley, Capt. Henry, 121. 
Harlow, Capt. Edward, 79, 80. 
Harpswell Neck, 241. 
Harpswell Point, 172. 
Harraseeket, 172. 
Harris, Dr. John, 39. 
Harrisse, Henry, 4, 5. 
Harvard College, 251. 
Haselrig, Sir Arthur, 285. 
Hatfield House, 87. 
Hawthorne, Capt. William, 370, 372. 
Hayward, Francis, 178. 
Haven, Samuel P., 114. 
Hawkins, John, 9, 10, 11. 
Hawkins, Narias, 253. 
Hawkins, Capt. Richard, 133, 135, 142. 
Hawkins, William, 9. 
Hele, Sir Warwick, 149, 154. 
Henrietta Maria, Queen, 174, 184. 
Henry II, 148. 

Henry IV, King of France, 29, 101. 
Henry VII grants letters patent to 

John Cabot and sons, 1, 5, 6, 7. 
Henry VIII, 7, 8. 



Hilton, Edward, 202. 

Hilton, Margaret, 178. 

Hine, Nicholas, 56. 

Hobson, Capt. Nicholas, 121, 122, 

140. 
Hocking, John, 246. 
Hocking trouble at Cushenoc, 246-249. 
Holland, Pilgrims in, 385. 
Holmes, Herbert E-, 118. 
Honfleur, 105. 
Hook, William, 292. 
Hooper, Mary, 347. 
Hore, Robert, 7. 

Houghton, Mrs. William Addison, 99. 
House Island, 171, 173, 199. 
House of Commons, 184, 185, 192, 193, 

194. 
House of Iyords, its declining influence 

in the civil war in England, 384, 

385. 
Howland, John, 247, 248. 
Hudson's river, 141. 
Hunt, John, 76. 
Hunt, Capt. Thomas, 121, 125, 131, 

132. 
Husbandmen of L,ondon, 204, 205, 206, 

339. 
Hutchinson, Anne, 309. 

Iceland, 4. 

Ince, Jonathan, 367. 

Indian corn, 256. 

Indian encampment at Pemaquid, 71. 

Indian trade, 98, 188, 258. 

Indians captured by Waymouth, 44, 
48, 49, 50, 57, 58, 60. 

Intoxicating liquors, their importa- 
tion and sale, 258, 259. 

Isle de Bacchus, 34, 213. 

Isle de Rhe, 190. 

Isle de Sable or Sablon, 264. 

Isles of Shoals, 129, 169, 254, 302. 

James, vessel bringing colonists from 
England, 251, 254. 

James I, sends map-maker to Vir- 
ginia in 1610, 25; restores estates to 



INDEX. 



403 



the Karl of Southampton, 37; in- 
formed of Guy Fawkes plot, 54; 
issues patent for two colonies in 
America, 77, 110, 113-115; condi- 
tions in England, 120; presses royal 
prerogatives, 147; adjourns Parlia- 
ment, 153; exhibits temper in the 
House of Commons, 156; Commons 
address a letter to the king, 158, 
159; the king offers land to settlers 
in America, 225; death of the king, 
184. 

Jamestown colony, 109, 110, 123. 

Jamestown, Va., 176, 260. 

Jefferies, William, 202. 

Jefferson, Me., 176. 

Jenner, Rev. Thomas, 328, 337, 338. 

Jennings, Abraham, first owner of 
Monhegan, 164-166, 181, 182, 213, 
218. 

Jennings, William, 165. 

Jesuit missionaries for work among 
the Indians on the American coast 
requested by Henry IV, 101; selected 
and sail from France, 102; Port 
Royal and on the Maine coast, 103; 
a new expedition in the interest of 
religion and French colonization, 
104-109; St. Sauveur settlement on 
Somes Sound broken up by Argall, 
110-113; ground of English claim 
to the location, 114-117. 

Jesuits, their relation to colonists at 
Port Royal, 103. 

Jewell's island, 89. 

Johnson, Edward, 318. 

Johnston, Alexander, 250. 

Johnston, John, 163. 

Johnston's map, 187. 

Jones, Inigo, 340. 

Jordan, Fritz H., 99. 

Jordan, Rev. Robert, kinsman of 
Thomas Purchase, 241; arrives at 
Richmond's island, 305; enters into 
Winter's quarrel with Cleeve, 325; 



marries Winter's daughter, 348; 
executor of Winter's estate, 350; 
petitions for the settlement of the 
estate, 351; petition granted, 352; 
obtains possession of Trelawny's 
territory and interests in the prov- 
ince, 352; order signed by Cleeve, 
353; opposes claims of Massachu- 
setts, 380; accepts her jurisdiction, 
381, 382; his death. 355. 

Josselyn, Henry, 208, 209, 221, 234, 
244, 292, 295, 336, 337, 338, 341, 359, 
360, 380, 382. 

Josselyn, John, 208. 

Josselyn, Sir Thomas, 208, 305. 

Kadesquit, 105, 106, 107. 

Kembolton, L,ord, 313. 

Kenduskeag, 105. 

Kennebec Purchase, proprietors of, 
380. 

Kennebec river, partly explored by 
Champlain, 1604, 33; is again at the 
mouth of the river in 1605, 34; not 
visited by Waymouth, 46; Popham 
colonists enter it, 74, 75; explored, 
76, 81, 85; visited by Biancourt and 
Father Biard, 103; also by Capt. 
John Smith, 128; Pilgrims secure a 
grant of land on the river, 185-188; 
eastern boundary of Gorges' Prov- 
ince of Maine, 197, 198; western 
boundary of French claim, 267, 268. 

Kennebec, settlers east of the, 250. 

Kennebec, settlers on the, 249. 

King, John, 347. 

King's Library, British Museum, 38. 

Kirke, Sir David, 197, 265. 

Kittery, incorporated in 1647, ap- 
proached by Massachusetts commis- 
sioners, 370-374; accepts the juris- 
diction of Massachusetts, 375, 376; 
sends two representatives to the 
general court, 378. 

Koopman, Harry I/., 99. 



404 



INDEX. 



Labrador, 4, 11, 142. 

Laconia patent, 197. 

Lambeth Palace library, 66, 85. 

Lambeth Palace manuscript journal of 
Popham colony, 64, 66, 68, 70, 71, 76, 
77, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86. 

La Nef, Champlain's designation of 
Monhegan, 34. 

Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, 230, 
231, 232, 235, 285, 309, 313, 357. 

Leader, Richard, 363, 372. 

Leaman, Master, 80. 

Leigh, Capt. Charles, 28. 

Lenox, Duke of, 147, 164, 166. 

Lenthall, speaker of the House of 
Commons, 313. 

Leverett, John, 202, 203, 372. 

Leverett, Thomas, 202, 203. 

Levett, Capt. Christopher, receives 
grant of land, 167; purposes to 
build a city and call it York, 168; 
examines coast north of the Piscata- 
qua, 169-172; fixes upon an island 
"before Casco river", erects house 
and defences, and returns to Eng- 
land, 173, 174; seeks assistance 
there, 190-194; is at Salem, Mass., 
in 1630, 195; dies on the homeward 
voyage, 196; his patent, 225, 226. 

Levett, Percival, 167. 

Lewis and Bonython patent, 201, 205. 

Lewis, Thomas, 201, 205, 234, 237, 
262, 301. 

Leyden, 162. 

Lisbon, Maine, 89. 

Lisbon, Spain, 11. 

Litchfield, 89. 

Lizards, The, 40, 66. 

London, England, 5, 11, 18, 39, 50, 
56, 132, 134, 142, 148, 152, 185, 186, 
190, 191. 

London Company of Virginia, 50, 55. 

Longfellow, Henry W., 13, 171. 

Long Island sound, 140. 

Lords Say and Brooke, 246, 247. 



Louis XIII of France, 102, 266. 

Louis XIV, 273, 279. 

Love, Captain, 64. 

Lowell Institute lectures, 114. 

Loyalists of the American Revolution, 

392. 
Lygon, Cicely, 37, 340. 
Lygon, William, 205. 
Lygonia or Plough patent, 204, 206, 

325, 326, 330, 338, 339. 
Lygonia, Province of, 204, 206, 336, 

340, 341, 353, 359, 360, 361, 367, 368, 

369. 

Macaulay, Lord, 146, 147, 285. 

Machegonne, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 
235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 244, 293, 294, 
297, 332. 

Machias, Pilgrim trading house at, 
267. 

Mackworth, Arthur, 237, 294, 330, 380. 

Maine, Province of, first use of the 
designation, 167; division of the 
province, 197; the four territorial 
divisions in 1650, 356; growth slow 
in the first three, 357; why the set- 
tlements failed to prosper like set- 
tlements in other parts of New 
England, 383-392; place of Maine 
in the history of the United States, 
393. 

Maine Historical Society, 15, 22, 26, 
31, 36, 48, 77, 93, 119, 187, 211, 212, 
242, 255, 257, 283, 305, 328, 380. 

Malaga, 124, 131, 132. 

Maneddo, 44, 49, 57, 122. 

Marshall, Chief Justice, 116. 

Marston Moor, 323. 

Martha's Vineyard, 121, 122, 140. 

Mary and John, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 
70, 71, 74, 75, 81, 84, 86, 87, 88, 89, 
90, 91, 93, 118, 126. 

Massachusetts bay, 97. 

Massachusetts bay charter declared 
null and void, 233; colonists aroused, 



INDEX. 



405 



233; the Bay colony asked to arbi- 
trate differences between Cleeve and 
Vines, 332; Massachusetts seeks to 
extend her jurisdiction into Maine 
territory, 360-367; defines her 
northern boundary, 368; the weak 
point in her contention, 369; her 
jurisdiction accepted by Kittery, 
375; by Agamenticus, 376-378; by 
Wells, Saco, Cape Porpoise, 379; by 
Black Point, Blue Point, Spurwink 
and Casco, 381, 382. 

Massachusetts Historical Society, 20, 
21, 203, 204, 225, 293, 362. 

Mason, Capt. John, 139, 154, 167, 197, 
205, 236, 264, 282, 283, 363, 365. 

Mason, Joseph, 363. 

Masonia, 281. 

Masse, Father Fnemond, 102, 104. 

Mather, Rev. Cotton, 251, 285. 

Mather, Rev. Increase, 251. 

Mather, Rev. Richard, 250, 251, 252, 
253, 254, 268. 

Matinicus islands, 68, 69, 129. 

Mayflower, 26, 65, 148, 149, 162, 185. 

Mayflower colonists, 154. 

Maverick, Samuel, 97, 168, 173, 225. 

McKeen, John, 42, 46. 

Mecaddacut, 127. 

Medici, Marie de, 102. 

Menawormet, 172. 

Merchant Venturers of Bristol, 5, 23, 
28, 180, 182. 

Merrimac river, 139, 167, 205. 

Merrymeeting bay, 76, 81, 246. 

Merry Mount, 199. 

Mexico, Viceroy of, 277. 

Milford Haven, 24, 113. 

Mitton, Michael, 237, 257, 293, 334, 
382. 

Monanis, 41, 129. 

Monhegan, 23, 34, 41, 42, 43, 47, 48, 
69, 70, 71, 72, 118, 123, 124, 125, 
130, 131, 132, 133, 135, 137, 138, 139, 
140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 148, 149, 156, 



159, 161, 164, 166, 170, 172, 173, 175, 

182, 183, 213, 218, 252.301 
Monhegan and Damariscove, 307. 
Monopolies, 146, 147, 151, 158. 
Monts, Sieur de, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 

35, 44, 84, 101, 102, 113. 
Moore, John Bassett, 116. 
Morattiggon, 172. 
Morrell, Rev. William, 157, 262. 
Morton, Thomas, 199, 200. 
Mount Aid worth, 26. 
Mount Desert, 32, 105, 106, 107, 108, 

110, 114, 127. 
Mount Washington, 42, 47, 170. 
Muscongus island, 177. 
Muscongus or Waldo patent, 202, 203, 

204, 218. 
Muscongus river, 177, 219. 

Nachen, 134. 

Nahanada, 126. 

Nantucket island, 40. 

Naquasset (now Woolwich) , 178, 179. 

Narragansett bay, 97. 

Naseby, 323, 335. 

Neale, Walter, 200, 201, 207, 209, 211, 
219, 221, 226. 

Nequamkick (Negumkikee), 187. 

Newcastle, 176. 

New England, great patent of, 145, 
148, 157; first division of the patent, 
164; second division, 166; patent 
surrendered, 232; final division, 
281; government for proposed by 
Gorges, 231; Gorges seeks the gov- 
ernorship, 231, 232, 282; receives 
his commission, 283; but the way 
to assume in person the office did 
not open, 291; great storm on the 
coast, 254; restriction of emigration 
to, 284. 

Newfoundland, 7, 8, 12, 16, 19, 21, 
23, 29, 68, 115, 138, 139, 142, 151, 
152, 154. 

New France, 108, 116. 



406 



INDEX. 



New Hampshire, 139, 197, 281, 282. 

New Harbor, 71, 126, 176, 177. 

Newman, Matthew, 177. 

New Meadows river, 242. 

New Somerset, L,ake of, 246. 

New Somersetshire, Province of, 288, 

289, 304. 
Newport, Capt. Christopher, 56. 
New York bay, 140. 
Nobleborough, 176. 
North sea, 141. 

Norton, Iyieut. Col. Francis, 314, 316. 
Norton, Iyieut. Col. Walter, 216, 217. 
Norumbegue, Norumbega, 33, 79. 
Nova Scotia, charter of, 154, 264, 265, 

266, 267. 
Nova Scotia coast, 68. 

O'Brien, Rev. M. C, 75. 

Odiorne's Point, 169. 

Ogunquit river, 310. 

Oldham, John, 201, 205. 

Oldham and Vines patent, 201. 

Old Orchard bay, 129, 170, 199, 207. 

Oxford, England, 184, 285. 

Pacific Ocean, 10. 

Parker, William, 54. 

Parkman, Francis, 108, 115. 

Parliament, the I^ong, 385. 

Parliament encourages fisheries, 8, 9. 

Pasqualigo, L/orenzo, Alvise and Fran- 
cesco, 2, 3. 

Passamaquoddy bay, 32. 

Passataquack, 128, 129. 

Patuxet, 172. 

Pearce, Richard, 163, 178. 

Pejepscot, 81, 209, 210, 303, 305. 

Pejepscot falls, 242, 243. 

Pejepscot papers, 204, 205, 241, 242, 
243. 

Pejepscot patent, 241, 243. 

Pejepscot river, 242. 

Pemaquid, 83, 84, 118, 119, 128, 143. 
161, 162, 163, 173, 175, 176, 177, 178, 
179, 198, 218, 220, 251, 252, 254, 255, 
261, 268, 272, 280, 285, 307. 



Pemaquid commissioners, 84. 

Pemaquid falls, 177. 

Pemaquid, first fort at, 198. 

Pemaquid grant, 260. 

Pemaquid Indians, 126. 

Pemaquid patent, 306. 

Pemaquid peninsula, 71, 126, 176, 180, 
198. 

Pemaquid Point, 73, 84, 219. 

Pemaquid river, 74, 217, 219. 

Pemaquid, and proposed religious 
services, 305, 306. 

Pendleton, Bryan, 374. 

Penobscot (Castine.), 127, 128; Pil- 
grim trading house there, 189, 267, 
268; French there, 268-270; la 
Tour's expedition against Aulnay, 
274, 275; still a French outpost, 
277-279. 

Penobscot bay, 25, 32, 42, 127, 129, 
130. 

Penobscot Indians, 127. 

Penobscot river, 46, 68, 84, 105, 203, 
269. 

Pentecost harbor, 43, 46, 48, 49, 60, 
70, 72, 126. 

Pentegouet, Pentegoet (Castine), 33, 
103, 105, 106, 107, 127. 

Pepperrell, Sir William, 245. 

Perkins, Rev. Dr. John Carroll, 99. 

Philips, Sir Robert, 153, 156, 184. 

Phipps, Samuel, 178. 

Pierce, Henry A., 203, 204. 

Pierce, John, 154, 161, 162, 163, 164, 
178. 

Pilgrims, sailed from Plymouth, Eng- 
land, 148; at Plymouth, 35; friend- 
ship with Samoset and Squanto, 
121, 172, 173; supplied with food by 
English fishing vessels near Dam- 
ariscove, 161, 162, 163; their Indian 
trade on the Kennebec, 185-188, 
246, 247; at Penobscot, 189; later 
history of Pilgrim grant on the 
Kennebec, 379, 380; enact "Gen- 



INDKX. 



407 



eral Liberties and Laws", 385; in- 
troduction to the same, 386. 

Pilgrim hall, 162. 

Pilgrim patent, 154, 162, 163. 

Piscataqua, 139, 169, 174, 182, 186, 
198, 200, 205, 207, 281, 301, 302, 
358. 

Plough colonists, 204, 205. 

Plough patent, 204, 206. 

Plymouth company, 55, 63, 132, 133, 
135, 136, 140, 141, 144-147. 

Plymouth, England, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 
16, 17, 18, 37, 49, 52, 55, 58, 63, 64, 
65, 87, 90, 97, 98, 131, 134, 135, 136, 
137, 138, 139, 141, 142, 144, 148, 
149, 150, 162, 163, 164, 165, 181, 184, 
190, 198, 210, 211, 217, 222, 244, 
245. 

Plymouth harbor identified with 
Whitson's bay, 26. 

Plymouth, Mass., 26, 182, 185, 186, 
188, 260, 268. 

Plympton, 188. 

Popham colony, how organized, 64; 
sailed, 65; the voyage, 66-68; ar- 
rival on the coast of Maine, 69-71; 
religious service, 72, 73; at the 
mouth of the Kennebec, 74, 75; site 
for colony selected and instructions 
read, 77, 78; construction of Fort 
St. George, 80^84; Mary and John 
returns to England, 87; Gift of God 
later, 90; death of president Pop- 
ham, 93; is succeeded by Capt. Gil- 
bert, 95; return of the colonists to 
England, 96; why the colony failed, 
98, 99; other references, 100, 103, 
118, 120, 131, 143, 144, 172, 176, 
259, 383. 

Popham colony tercentenary, 99. 

Popham' s fort, 188. 

Popham Memorial Volume, 42. 

Popham, Edward, 65. 

Popham, George, 54, 65, 67, 73, 74, 



75, 76, 79, 80, 81, 87, 89, 92, 93, 94, 
98, 99. 

Popham, Sir Francis, 80, 94, 100, 101, 
120, 126. 

Popham, Sir John, 38, 39, 49, 50, 51, 
52, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 61, 63, 64, 65, 
71, 73, 79, 80, 95, 98. 

Porpoise, Cape, 215, 216. 

Portland, 26, 170, 171; harbor, 171, 
190. 

Porto Rico, 57. 

Port Royal, 32, 35, 101, 102, 103, 104, 
105, 113, 114, 115. 

Poutrincourt, Sieur de, 35, 101, 102. 

Powhatan, 15. 

Preble, Abraham, 382. 

Prence, Thomas, 271, 379. 

Prescott, Benjamin, 179. 

Presumpscot river, 171, 228, 237. 

Prince, George, 42, 46. 

Pring, Capt. Martin, 24, 25, 26, 27, 
28, 29, 37, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61, 67, 68, 
69, 73, 74, 84, 85, 97, 124, 129, 142, 
180. 

Pring tercentenary, 26. 

Privy council, 190. 

Proclamation of Charles I, in Levett's 
interest, 192, 193. 

Protectorate, The, 278. 

Prout, Timothy, 208. 

Prout's Neck, 208. 

Province of Maine, first use of desig- 
nation, 167; its division, 197; offers 
opportunities for settlement, 210; 
the council for New England makes 
allotment to Gorges, 229; name 
changed to New Somersetshire, 234; 
name restored, 289; under royalist 
influences largely, 388-390. 

Province of Massachusetts Bay, settle- 
ment commenced, 193, 202; rapid 
growth, 230; its policy of non-inter- 
ference, 240; conference concerning 
Hocking affair, 248, 249; its govern- 



408 



INDEX. 



ment, 263; in sympathy with la 
Tour, 275-277; Godfrey performs 
helpful service, 316; action of the 
province in an attempt to extend her 
jurisdiction into Maine territory, 
360; peruses her charter, 363-366; 
advances her claim, 367-369; meets 
opposition, 370-374; her jurisdic- 
tion accepted, 375-382. 

Province of New Somersetshire, 234, 
236, 237, 238, 240, 241, 246. 

Public Records Office, London, 137. 

Puddington, George, 318. 

Purchas, Samuel, 28, 38, 39, 56, 59, 
66, 92, 140. 

Purchase, Thomas, 234, 241, 242, 243, 
244, 303, 304, 305, 315. 

Puritans of Massachusetts, why they 
left England, 386, 387; aided by the 
course of events in England, 279, 
388; the movement in which they 
had a place, 391. 

Pym, 313. 

Quack, 171, 172, 173, 175. 
Quantin, Father, 104. 
Quebec, 30, 33. 
Quinibequy, 33. 

Ralegh, Sir Walter, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 
22, 23, 38, 39, 45, 56, 65, 142. 

Ratcliffe, 39. 

Rawson, Edward, 371, 373. 

Razillai, Isaac de, 265, 266, 267, 272, 
273. 

Relation of Father Biard, 101, 103, 
105-108. 

Religion, lack of restraining influ- 
ence of, 262. 

Rennie, Sir John, 148. 

Revenue service, U. S., 40. 

Richelieu, Cardinal, 265. 

Richmond, George, 214. 

Richmond's island, 34, 82, 199, 200, 
207, 208, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 216, 
220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 227, 235, 237, 



240, 245, 253, 255, 258, 259, 261, 294, 
300, 301, 342, 343, 347, 350, 352. 

Richmond's landing, 188. 

Rigby, Col. Alexander, obtains pos- 
session of the Plough patent by 
purchase, 206, 325, 326; makes 
Cleeve deputy president of the 
Province of Lygonia, 327; opposi- 
tion encountered, 336, 338; Rigby 
declared rightful proprietor of the 
province, 339, 340; his death, 359; 
its effect in the province of L/ygo- 
nia, 360. 

Rigby, Edward, 204, 361, 368, 369. 

Rishworth, Edward, 244, 372, 382. 

Roanoke island, 14, 15, 23. 

Robinson, Francis, 294, 328, 334, 338. 

Rochelle, 136, 190. 

Rocroft, Capt. Edward, 138, 139, 140, 
143. 

Rogers, John, 318. 

Rosier, James, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 
45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 54, 57, 69, 71, 
124. 

Rosier's Relation, 18, 39, 40, 41, 42, 
43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 72, 74, 75, 76. 

Royal Society of Canada, 4. 

Royalist party in England, 230. 

Royall, William, 334, 352. 

Rudolph II, emperor, 37. 

Rudyerd, Sir Benjamin, 184. 

Russell, Richard, 307. 

Rut, John, 7. 

Sabine, Iyorenzo, 7, 8, 9, 16, 150, 392. 

Sabino peninsula, 76. 

Sable island bank, 68. 

Saco, 134, 139, 164, 169, 170, 201, 234, 

315. 
Saco river, 134, 143, 164, 246. 
Safford, Moses A., 282. 
Sagadahoc river, 74, 75, 76. 82, 84, 85, 

86, 88, 90, 98, 128, 129, 160, 164, 167, 

171, 172, 183, 205, 206, 217, 237, 242, 

246. 



inde;x. 



409 



Saltash, 136. 

Salterne, Robert, 24. 

Saltonstall, Sir Samuel, 123. 

Sandys, Sir Edwin, 147, 151, 152, 153. 

San Juan de Ulua, 10. 

Sankaty Head, 40. 

Sankey, Robert, 293. 

Saffacomoit, 44, 57, 58 (Sassacomett), 

122. 
Salisbury, Lord, 63, 64. 
Sargent, William M., 283. 
Sasanoa, 81, 85, 130. 
Sassafras, its medicinal qualities, 21, 

26. 
Saussaye, Capt. la, 104, 105, 109, 111, 

112, 113. 
Scarborough, 382. 
Scitterygusset, 199. 
Scotland, 289. 
Sebanoa, 85, 86. 
Sebascodegan, 241. 
Sedgwick, Major Robert, 279. 
Segocket, 128. 
Seguin (Satquin, Sutquin) 34, 75, 129, 

164. 
Sellanova, Capt., 271. 
Sewall, R. K., 42, 46, 84. 
Seymour, Rev. Richard, 73, 79, 89, 

262. 
Sforza, Ludovico, Duke of Milan, 2, 3. 
Shapleigh, Nicholas, 241, 372, 382. 
Shea, John Gilmary, 104, 105. 
Sheepscot, 198. 
Sheepscot bay, 86, 249. 
Sheepscot Farms, 249, 250, 257. 
Sherborne, 190. 
Sherman, John, 367. 
Sherwell, Mr., 155. 
Ship Cove, 81. 
Shurt, Abraham, 178, 179, 180, 182, 

254, 260, 275, 306. 
Shurt, George, 179, 218, 220. 
Simancas map, 1610, 25, 41, 47. 
Simonds, Samuel, 374. 



Simson, Henry, 318. 

Skicowaros, 44, 49, 71, 72, 74, 81, 83, 

84, 86, 87 (Skidwarres), 126. 
Slave stealing and selling, 9. 
Small Point, 47, 170. 
Smith, Capt. John, 24, 41, 66, 75, 79, 

84, 92, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 

129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 

137, 138, 143, 144, 259. 
Smith's isles, 129. 
Smyth, Ivady Elizabeth, 320. 
Smyth, Sir Hugh, 320, 340. 
Somers, Sir George, 54. 
Somerset, 172, 177, 178, 179. 
Somes Sound, 108, 115, 116. 
Soncino, Raimondo di, 2, 3. 
Sorico, 129. 

Southampton, Earl of, 37, 39, 50. 
South Freeport, 172. 
Southport, 172. 

South Virginia colony, 133, 144. 
South Virginia Company, 63, 145, 147, 

148, 162. 
Sowocotuck, 128, 129. 
Spain informed concerning Cabot's 

discovery, 5. 
Spanish Armada, 142. 
Sparhawk, Nathaniel, 245, 246. 
Sprague's river, 89. 
Speedwell (Pring's vessel, 1603), 24, 

26. 
Spurwink, 240, 259, 293, 294, 295, 381. 
Spurwink river, 209, 210, 222, 223, 

225, 226, 228. 
Squanto, Tisquantum, 121, 173. 
Stagomor, 228. 
Standish, Capt. Myles, 185, 186, 248, 

269, 270, 271. 
Star chamber court, 293. 
State county, on the Sagadahoc, 160. 
Steward, Sir Robert, 285. 
Stilson, James, 178. 
St. Andrew's Church, Plymouth, 164, 

165. 



27 



410 



INDKX. 



St. Augustine's Cathedral Church, 

Bristol, 22. 
St. Croix island, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 

101, 103, 113, 115. 
St. Croix river, 32, 264, 266, 269, 281. 
St. George's fort, mouth of the Ken- 
nebec, 76, 77, 87, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 

99, 103, 118. 
St. George's harbor, 34, 43, 48, 60, 69, 

71, 77, 306. 
St. George's island, 41, 72, 123. 
St. George's islands, 69, 70, 71, 72. 
St. George's river, 45, 46, 47, 198, 

250, 279. 
St. Germain, treaty of, 266, 278. 
St. John, 276, 277, 279. 
St. John river, 266, 274, 275. 
St. John's bay, 161. 
St. John's, Newfoundland, 7, 12, 29. 
St. Iyawrence river, 12, 29, 30, 102. 
St. Lucia, 57. 
St. Malo, 8, 35. 
St. Mark's chapel, Bristol, 22. 
St. Nicholas Church, Bristol, 26. 
St. Peter's Church, Bristol, 180, 182. 
St. Peter's hospital, Bristol, 180. 
St. Sauveur, 105, 106, 108, 112, 113, 

114, 115, 127. 
St. Sepulchre Church, 123. 
St. Stephen's Church, Bristol, 61. 
Stoneham, John, 39, 56, 57, 58. 
Strachey, William, 38, 64, 66, 79, 80, 

87, 90, 97, 118. 
Strafford, execution of, 313. 
Stratton, John, 208, 215, 216. 
Stratton's island, 208, 215, 216. 
Sullivan, James, 245, 249, 250. 
Sutliffe, Dr., 135. 
Sutton's Pool, 148. 

Tahanedo, 44, 49, 60, 72, 74, 81, 83, 

84, 87. 
Tahanock, 47. 
Talbot, Moses, 247. 
Tarrantines, 127. 



Tasquantum, 49. 

Temple, Col. Thomas, 279. 

Tercentenary of de Monts settlement 
at St. Croix island, 36. 

Tercentenary of the landing of the 
Popham colonists, 99. 

Tercentenary of Pring's voyage of 
1603, 26. 

Tercentenary of Waymouth's voyage, 
1605, 43, 48. 

Thayer, Rev. Henry O., 38, 58, 65, 
67, 75, 87, 91, 93, 119. 

Thomaston, 46, 47, 48. 

Thompson, David, 169, 182. 

Thornton, John Wingate, 180, 211, 
212. 

Thornton Papers, John Wingate, 208. 

Tisquantum, 121, 124, 138, 139, 140. 

Topsham, England, 94. 

Tour, Charles de la, 266, 273, 274, 
275, 276, 277, 278. 

Tour, Claude de la, 264, 266. 

Tour, Madame la, 277, 278. 

Townes, Thomas, 148. 

Trelawny, Rev. C. T. Collins, 211, 212. 

Trelawny, Edward, 253, 262, 268, 270, 
390. 

Trelawny Papers, 211, 212. 

Trelawny patent, 225, 226, 325. 

Trelawny, Robert, receives grant of 
land with Moses Goodyear, 211-214; 
Winter placed in charge of Tre- 
lawny' s interests at Richmond's 
island, 220, 221, 222; complains of 
Cleeve's encroachment at Mache- 
gonne, 224; grant is enlarged by 
Gorges, 227; receiving reports from 
Winter, 237, 238, 239, 245, 253, 255, 
256, 257, 261, 270; court troubles, 
295, 296; writes concerning events 
in England, 298, 299; his arrest and 
imprisonment, 327, 344, 345; his 
death, 347; Trelawny heirs unable 
to recover the lands covered by 
Trelawny's grant, 355. 



INDEX. 



411 



Trevelyan, G. M., concerning cause of 
opposition to the Stuarts, 386. 

Treworgy, James, 207. 

Tucker, Daniel, 56. 

Tucker, Richard, 210, 211, 221, 222, 
223, 224, 228, 244, 256, 334, 338. 

Turfrey, George, 204. 

Turnell, Captain, 113. 

Turner, Mr., physician of the Mary 
and John, 89. 

Tyndall, Robert, 25. 

Tyng, Edward, 379. 

Union and Camden mountains, 130. 
United colonies, 276. 
Unongoit, 177, 178, 179. 

Vane, Sir Henry, 240. 

Venice, Cabot's birthplace, 1. 

Vera Cruz, 10. 

Victoria, Queen, 6. 

Vines, Richard, goes to the coast of 
Maine, 134; receives a grant of land 
with John Oldham, 201, 205; one of 
those who placed Winter in posses- 
sion of Trelawny grant, 221; urges 
upon Gorges need of government, 
233, 234; said to be interested at 
Machias, 267; joins Shurt in a 
business trip to the eastward, 275; 
member of council of Deputy Gov. 
Thomas Gorges, 292; connected 
with court proceedings, 295; accom- 
panies Gov. Gorges to the White 
Mountains, 308; writes to Winthrop, 
315; opposed to Cleeve, 327, is op- 
posed by Cleeve, 330; assails the 
validity of the Lygonia patent, 331; 
arrests Richard Tucker, 333; letter 
to Winthrop, 335; leaves Maine and 
settles in Barbadoes, 336. 

Vineyard Sound, 34. 

Virginia, 14, 25, 140, 141, 151. 

Virginia colony, 109. 

Virginia, vessel built by the Popham 
colonists, 95, 97, 99, 118. 



Waldo patent, 202. 

Walsingham, Elizabeth's Secretary of 
State, 22, 23. 

Wanape, 122. 

Wannerton, 275. 

Warwick, Earl of, 11, 207, 340. 

Washington, George, 109. 

Washington, Lawrence, 109. 

Waterville, 187. 

Waters, Henry F., 97. 

Watts, Henry, 352. 

Way, Eleazer, 241. 

Way, George, 241, 243. 

Way, Lewis Upton, 340. 

Waymouth, George, urges search for a 
northwest passage to the Indies, 
17; voyage unsuccessful, 18; com- 
mands expedition to Maine coast in 
1605, 38; sails from London, 39; 
approaches the coast, 40; designates 
Monhegan as St. George's island, 
41; anchors in Pentecost harbor (St. 
George's harbor), 43; captures five 
Indians, 44; his discoveries, 45-48; 
returns to England, 49-51; makes 
arrangement for another voyage, 
which is abandoned, 52-57; use 
made of his map by the Popham 
colonists, 68; discovery of the cross 
erected by him at St. George's har- 
bor, 69, 70; one of his Indians was 
on the Mary and John, 71, 72; 
others mentioned, 74, 121, 122. 

Weeks, Oliver, 223. 

Wellington, Somersetshire, 38. 

Wells, settlement of, 309, 310, 311, 
341, 358, 379. 

West, Capt. Francis, 156, 157, 169. 

Westminster Abbey, 22. 

Weymouth, England, 171. 

Wharton, Richard, 241. 

Wheelwright, Rev. John, settles at 
Wells and establishes a church, 309, 
310. 

Whitby, Mr., 184, 185. 



412 



INDEX. 



White, Gov. John, 14, 15. 

White, Paul, 307. 

White and Blue mountains, 42. 

White Mountains, 34, 42, 308. 

Whitson, John, 24, 25, 26, 142. 

Whitson's bay, 25, 26. 

Whitson's head, 25. 

Wiggin, Capt. Thomas, 242, 374. 

Wilkinson, 293. 

Willard, Josiah, 178. 

Willard, Captain Simon, 367. 

Willett, Thomas, 268. 

Williams, Capt. John F., 40, 46. 

Williams, Hon. Reuel, 380. 

Williamson, Hon. W. D., 46, 366. 

Willis, William, 42, 200, 224. 

Wimbledon, Lord, 174. 

Winchester house, 346. 

Wincob, John, 162. 

Windebank, Sir Francis, 231, 288, 
291. 

Winnipesaukee, Lake, 367. 

Winship, George Parker, 4, 20, 40. 

Winslow, Edward, 161, 162, 182, 185, 
206, 249. 

Winslow, John, 379. 

Winter, John, arrives at Richmond's 
island, and orders Cleeve and Tuck- 
er to leave, 221; they remove to 
Machegonne, 222, 223; still re- 
garded as trespassers on Trelawny's 
territory, 224, 225; Winter goes to 
England and Gorges enlarges Tre- 
lawny's grant, 226, 227; shares Tre- 
lawny's royalist views, 335; still re- 
gards Cleeve as trespassing on Tre- 



lawny's rights, 238, 239; is sum- 
moned to answer before the king, 
240; goes to England, 253; his house 
at Richmond's island, 255, 256; re- 
ports to Trelawny concerning fish- 
ing, 257, 258; his correspondence 
with Trelawny, 259, 261; court pro- 
ceedings, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297; 
added correspondence, 300-302, 305, 
342, 343, 345; hears of Trelawny's 
arrest, imprisonment and death, 
345, 346, 347; death of Winter, 348. 

Winter, Mrs. John, 259. 

Winter, Sarah, 259, 301, 306. 

Winthrop, John, 195, 199, 202, 204, 
205, 235, 237, 238, 239, .240, 248, 
293, 301, 304, 317, 321, 330, 331, 
334, 335, 337, 387. 

Witheridge, master, 150, 175. 

Withers, Thomas, 372. 

Women, absence of among colonists, 
259, 260. 

Woods, Dr. Leonard, 15, 93. 

Woolwich, 178. 

Worth, R. N., 142, 144. 

Wriothesley, Henry, Karl of South- 
• ampton, 19, 39. 

York, England, 148, 152, 167, 168, 171. 
York, Lord president of, 168. 
York (Casco Bay), 171, 173, 174, 199. 
York (Agamenticus) , 217, 377, 378, 

379. 
York harbor, 169. 
Yorkshire, 375. 

Zouche, Sir John, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57. 



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